Karma: Blackheart
by Seiri Yuki
Summary: NO LONGER ON HIATUS... The conclusion to the double duel, as well as what became of Bakura on the anchor. Chapter 16, part one is finally here..! ***** What would have happened had Marik ran Bakura over in ep. 69--..-Thiefshipping MxYB-.. Review please!
1. Introduction

**A/n: Okay, this is my new story! it's centred around the changes that the series would have to undergo if Marik had accidentally ran Bakura down in episode 69. Oh yeah, and anyone who read my other yugioh thing, the poetry corner, you may see some similarities between the imagery in this and the poem entitled 'partners'...  
and since i don't usually support Theifshipping, I'm sorry if I stole someone else's idea... I don't usually read them so it wasn't done intentionally! I promise!  
And one more favor... i must admit that rating these things is really difficult for me to do since it's not black and white what something is or isn't... When i write yaoi.. i write yaoi, if you get my drift. I've never had anyone see any of my other stuff like this, so if you liked(and this applies to later chapters) but felt it was a little too strong/or underrated, TELL ME! it's the only way i'm going to learn! **

**Anyway. Enjoy. This is only the intro.**

**Disclaimer: I have not owned Yugioh in any of my previous stories, so nothing has changed in this one either.**

**Intro**

The sea-spray rose in blustery clouds, and the boat bucked and plunged desperately against the iron-grey waves. The small, cloaked figure stood at it's hull, clutching something gold and shiny underneath the fabric of the dark garment he was wrapped in. His pale ghostly blue eyes scanned the horizon; comprised of the irregularly-placed buildings of a city spread like a welcome fanfare before him. The shivering fabric clinging to him shivered back against his body with the strength of the wind's wrath fuelling it. This figure grinned to himself, the twisted innocence of his sixteen years playing through this simple positive expression. His mind was half a world away, buried in concerns and plans he should not have had to experience or invent in this half of his youth, when a voice from inside the boat's cockpit jolted him back to the present.

"We will be arriving in Domino city in a couple of minutes, master Marik," the voice informed him and when he turned around to face the speaker, his gaze fixed on another cloaked figure with the same trademark dark skin as he, but with features such as the tattoo streaking the right side of his face which showed that just like his little 'master', their childhood was better left unexplored.

"Excellent," Marik replied, his strong voice somehow condescending. An extra-strong gust of sea breeze forced the cloak's fabric to peel back from the object he clutched across his chest, and it was finally revealed to be some sort of horned ball, mounted on the top of a regal solid gold stick. The spray from the unearthed water greedily misted it's gleaming surface, formerly the only dry thing on his outer person.

As the boat's hull bumped the side of the docks with the lightest of kisses, the breeze picked up speed and tugged the hood previously obscuring Marik's long, straggly blond hair clear off his head and he turned to the shore as it flopped lifelessly against his shoulders. He grasped the metal railings around the side of the boat and vaulted down onto the concrete of the dock gangway, slightly nauseous after the long journey but not about to admit it.

The other cloaked figure appeared by his side, pulling a heavy rope to secure the boat with.

"I must get going if I am to put my plan into effect," the impatient teenager informed him, already with the sodden cloak halfway over his head. He really hadn't noticed how wet the spray on the breeze had been at the time, and although he had planned on arriving in style wearing it, that dream had been shattered along with his comfort. Wet clothes was one of this teenager's pet hates, having grown up in the sweltering darkness of an Egyptian tomb his whole life.

"Here is your bike, Master," the other figure gasped, now hauling an enormous motorcycle over the railings after him with two strong arms. The young teenager smiled as it was laid before him, having struggled out of the limp wet bundle of navy cloth on the ground. Another of his pet hates happened to be folding things or even neatly storing them once he was not wearing them, so this cloak was fated to stay there until such time as the servant of this bossy little boy (or indeed anyone else) were to remove it. He inserted the gold rod's shaft down in between his belt and his white jeans, only for a place to put it while not having to grasp it, if anything else.

"Now, I shouldn't be too long, you know the plan. Don't you, Odeon?" he asked, now fitting a helmet that had been conveniently dangling from the handlebars of his bike over his blond head and fastening it under his chin.

"Yes, master, I shall do as you have commanded," he replied, deeply. Marik swung his leg across the motorcycle and forced his weight against the kick start. The metal monster roared awake beneath him, and purred gently almost in welcome to it's little rider, ready to be manipulated at any time- at the very beck and call of the haughty little teenager.

"See you later," he could not help but add, betraying that this 'servant' Odeon could have been just a little more important to him than just a slave, by rights. And then he wasted no time in hitting the highway, not even tossing a friendly look backwards as he roared off, the little rebel tomb-keeper with the obligatory metaphorical winds of change caressing his tanned skin. He was forced to marvel at just how free he felt again, now… it was an involuntary emotion that seemed to creep all over him the second he took to the road, his gleaming mount obeying his every touch… he could do anything, his metal steed and he…

He even enjoyed the harsh bite of the chilling air, the roar of the avid engines, the vibration of the leather between his thighs…………………

In a fit of joy, Marik yanked at the handlebars and revved it's engine, the front wheel rearing up as he entered a back alley of the city. Relying on his own balance and strength to avoid colliding with the opposite wall, he turned expertly on the back wheel of his steed and had just guided it back onto both wheels when a small, white- haired figure darted right into his path, his arms outstretched as if to prevent him passage, shouting "Stop!!!". Although the following seemed unusual considering Marik's skill with this machine, he swerved desperately.

There was the desolate whine of tyres and tar, the smell of burnt rubber and an awful yelp following, and soon the roaring engine heaved back to a purr, it's back tyre still spinning pathetically, downed by the roadside in the middle of the backwater alley. Two figures lay sprawled in it's presence, one was the shaking teenager who had appeared so cocky only a few seconds prior to this and the other, a beautiful white-haired boy, was lying still beneath the body of Marik's precious metal steed, his sky-blue jacket and striped t-shirt already stained crimson with his spilled blood. And not only his blood, Marik was forced to realise, but his own too. There was a nasty graze right along his jaw which stung, and both his legs ached beneath his weight, which he was forced to bear crawling towards the inanimate figure tucked beneath his motorbike. He could almost hear the hot adrenaline spreading through his veins, his wildly thumping heart reminding him he was still alive.

"H..hello?" he gasped, discovering another place he was injured, as an overwhelming pain dug into his chest when he forced words, causing him to gasp a little. The figure trapped beneath the bike did not reply in any sense, not even with a twitch of movement. Marik crept slowly closer. He spotted the gleaming gold rod lying abandoned about a metre to his left, too far for him to crawl unassisted. So instead he satisfied himself with inching tediously towards the boy who'd forced him to crash.

"A…are you okay? Who… who.." there was just no way he could force the rest of his inquiry from his injured lungs, and instead the only thing he could manage to do was to collapse heavily against the stranger's oddly soft, comfortable chest, readying his strength to relieve the stress on the pale-skinned boy's legs and lower body. (This 'comfortableness' may have had something more to do with a few more shattered ribs than Marik happened to realise at the time.) And after a second of deep, shaky breaths, he slammed his shoulder into his beloved, softly purring steed, forcing it to tumble several inches off it's prey and across the tarmac, releasing this injured boy reluctantly. Everything was swimming in an unkind haze before Marik's pale eyes, beckoning him to dangerous slumber he may be lucky to awake from, the same desolate sleep which had calmed this injured figure beneath him. Was the blood-stained teenager he was propping himself on even still alive? There was very little ways he could determine this with minimal movement on his part, so from where he currently was lying, stretched out uncomfortable and diagonally across his stomach, the only thing he could do was to brace himself on both hands and dip his head towards his pale, blood-stained neck, listening for breath. If there was, it was minimal, and the demon of sleep cloaking his consciousness became ever more insistent.

Eventually, he reached out and brushed the kid's beautiful white hair from his handsome, blank face and lowered his head until his nose rested against the other's cheek. His shoulders threatened to release his weight, but he fought desperately against collapsing. And as he concentrated on his own heaving breaths and shivering limbs, it was only then that the very weak, rapid, shallow heat of the boy's breath against his face became in any way apparent. He _was_ still alive- but for how much longer? In fact, how much longer could _he _stay above the iron waters of death? A warmth on his left hand alerted him to the hot sticky river of blood pooling around his fingers, seeping out through the underside of his victim's back.

"Oh hells," he muttered with a wince and then it was almost as if a pillow was put over his eyes and ears. He collapsed instantaneously against the stranger, as his whole consciousness drained from his own mind, and mixed with the hot pool of blood framing both of their bodies. The unfortunate boy lying barely alive beneath him now was forced to act as a cushion, shielding his own broken ribs from the cold rigid tarmac.

The bike still purred sadly from where it lay in the corner between two warehouses. The only other thing that disturbed the silence of the backdrop apart from the whimpering motor, was the slow and steady drip of the blood spilling from the pulsing cut lining Marik's collar bone against Ryou Bakura's neck, the unfortunate but intentioned victim of this collision.

It seemed that the scheming spirit of the millennium ring had not accounted for this when he decided to run out in the path of oncoming millennium items!

**A/n: Right! (Is "intentioned" even an appropriate word for that??)  
****There's the start of my first Yaoi-pairing story! Tell me if you like, please. Because there's plenty more where that came from. And if you think I should write the duels, since they'll have to take place a lot differently than in the anime now, tell me... And if you didn't like, don't flame, tell me why nicely. I need the feedback since this type of thing is my specialty when i get going....**


	2. Chpt 1 Butterflies and secrets

**A/n: Wow, I can't believe how many people were interested in this so quickly! A sincere thank you to all my reviewers, Seiri loves to hear your feedback!  
Right, it's back by popular demand, with chapter 1; butterflies and secrets, the real beginning to my little thiefshipping tale.(by the way if you've ever seen LK's abridged series and you imagine their voices in this to be like the ones he's given them, for this purpose it can be quite funny.)  
****And I must admit i am going through a sort of writer's block, even though my strain of this disease amongst novelists usually consist of just writing slightly childish versions of my normal stuff. So tell me if you like the new narrative style (following Marik almost exclusively!)**

**okay, on with the story.**

**Disclaimer: i did not own Yugioh in the previous chapter, and so do not here either.**

**Chapter 1: Butterflies and secrets**

Hazy pools of florescent light greeted the two grey eyes braving the world he had almost lost, not too long ago.

"Master!" Something had not quite registered with him yet, and curiously he had no idea why someone would be talking to him. In fact, who was he, for that matter? What had just happened?

"Master! Can you hear me? What happened?" inquired the deep, nervous voice to his left. Blinking and squinting against the angry buzzing noise filling his head, he glanced around. Apparently he was lying on his back, and the snow-white gleaming surface looming down at him from above contained the light that was burning his pale blue-grey retinas.

Slowly, the dramatics of the violent crash he had been in, began to filter partially into his almost empty brain…

A flash of some stripy-shirted kid.. The terrible squeal of breaks and smell of burning rubber…. The angel.. Beautiful, wingless angel who lay dying.. benea…beneath him?

"Holy Ra!" Marik Ishtar gasped, leaping up into a sitting position and almost immediately forced to collapse back into his pillow with a groan.

"Master! It's me!" cried the disembodied voice to Marik's left, until he was forced to incline his head until the tanned bald cranium of a kneeling young man came into sight, wrapped in a navy cloak and holding out a golden, horned object to the injured boy.

"Odeon? What are you doing here? What happened?" He asked innocently, his youthful sixteen years betraying him. But although he was far too plagued by waves of pain to even look head-on at his servant, he still managed to reach out greedily for the golden object…

"The doctors told me you were in a road accident…" Odeon prompted, almost as if Marik's account of the events would somehow prove the doctors wrong. Or perhaps just calm his worry for the young teen.

"I know! I wouldn't be stuck in this hospital bed if it wasn't for that _fool_who ran out in front of me! He deserved all he got! Who's going to stop little Yugi now?" Marik raged, to the best of his abilities. Every word stung like an inhaled pin, and mucus frothed somewhere deep in his throat, causing him to bend double in a coughing spasm.

"Master Marik!"

"I'm fine, you fool, which is more than I can say for the guy I hit. … He _did_ survive, didn't he?" the haughty injured teenager asked once he'd recovered, almost sent into another raging coughing-fit by the fact that the thought of that beautiful angel he'd pushed his motorbike off of dying was almost more than he could bear. And with the amount of pain he was in right now, that was quite a powerful thought indeed.

"The guy you… did he survive?" it was almost as if he _expected_Marik to know, the injured blond frowned to himself. Who was the one waking up after being pumped full of morphine for goodness only knows how long?

"Well how am I to know? Why would I be asking you if I already had that information?!" he gasped, already halfway submerged by another coughing fit. Secretly, he wasn't really angry at all at the kid who'd almost gotten him killed. The picture haunted his mind…of him lying, covered in blood, his angelic features magically peaceful through all his injuries.. The heat of his wet blood, drenching his own front in crimson.. As he lay _beneath him…_

"Marik? Master, perhaps you should rest.. It's been only three days…"

"Three days?!" he gasped, jolted from the daydream as violently as if someone sprayed him in cold water. "The battle city finals start in less than two weeks!"

"You should rest for now. I know your plan requires us both to qualify. But master, perhaps I could…"

"Perhaps you could just go away! I need to think about this and my back hurts like hell!" he grumbled in reply, stroking the rounded tip of his millennium rod between it's two prongs, giving the impression of a little evil genius and a certain fluffy white cat.. However the moment passed swiftly, and with a nod following an affirmative reply, the man bowed low and retreated through a starched white doorframe.

"Hmph!" humphed the spoilt little villain, crossing his arms across his chest. However, he soon had to stop, when he discovered it hurt too much. There was a bandage binding his upper body tightly, as well as another odd one here or there, encircling his thighs and head, left wrist and lower calf. The one on his wrist was stained lightly with freshly-spilled blood. And he realised some perverse doctor had undressed him, but seemed to have seen fit to leave him lying naked bar the bandages.

Just great! How was he to achieve revenge on the Pharaoh naked??

The rest of the room seemed fairly uninteresting to his bright little mind… it was a big square place with about two other hospital beds filling it. He could just about see that the one opposite his was occupied, but by whom or what he could not tell. Whoever they were, they were fixed up to a drip and had a huge machine assisting them to breathe. There was a lone potted plant on a small table on the left side of this individual's bed, which angered Marik un-necessarily when he realised there was no such object around him.

"Oi!" he bellowed, when the silhouette of a nurse drifted past the frosted sliding glass doors Odeon had forgotten to shut properly on his way out. "You there!" to his great dismay, it appeared that he was being ignored. And Marik Ishtar despises being ignored!

With a huff, he had nothing better left to do than stroke his rod (A/n: doesn't that sound delightfully disgusting?) and take deep, heaving breaths, his mind left to wander back to concerns about the beautiful white-haired boy he'd run over. What was his name? Why did he have a death wish to be struck by oncoming traffic in some backwater alley? Did he even expect not to be hit? There was so many questions, and only one Marik was in a position to answer. He did _care_ about him, secretly and he _would_ find out what had become of him….

"You! Deaf woman! Get over here!" he tried again, when the silhouette reappeared the other side of the glass, a blur of light colour against the darkened surroundings she was in. This time she stopped, and paused the other side of the glass. After a painfully slow few seconds, she slid the door fully open, revealing blonde curly hair and a sickly sweet smile, wrapped in a white starched uniform revealing long tanned legs and an armful of tray. However, unlike normal teenage delinquents Marik's age, he was unperturbed.

"You there! Why am I naked?" he announced foolishly to the whole ward, and any eavesdroppers that may have happened to be in the area. The woman motioned for him to 'ssshhh."

"I will not shush, you fool! Where are my clothes?"

"Right beside you." she answered. Her voice was quite unnaturally high. "I suggest for the health of your… erm, friend over there, you give him some peace and quiet."

"What friend? Jeez, woman! I almost die, and now some fool has stripped me! And what do you start babbling about? Friends? I don't have friends!" he roared back, voice mounting in volume with every word. If some sick bozo wanted quiet, that wasn't his problem, was it?

"I.. assumed because.. Well, at the sight of the accident, you were found lying together, and we could hardly prise you two apart to get you into the ambulance._ He's_ not your friend..?"

"Oh," Marik replied, softly, and let his millennium rod fall back against his chest, which then caused him to mew in pain. So it was the angel he'd hit lying opposite? He was alive?…Well. That changed everything…!

"Is he… okay? Will he survive? I mean.. it's not like we're friends or anything…." he added, unconvincingly when he realised the urgent note of concern simmering in his voice. Marik Ishtar can't be seen to be worried about another's safety, can he? Especially after he'd almost got him killed! That would be… well… embarrassing!

"Yes…" she smiled warmly, "His injuries were very serious and we thought for a few days he would choose to leave us, but during the last few hours he appears to have miraculously stabilised," the whole while she'd been explaining this in her fancy-dancy hospital jargon, Marik was again attempting to sit up, and in the struggle noticed indeed there was a bundle of bleached hospital robes for him on the bedside table. So he wasn't expected to roam the halls clad in bandages like a mummy?

"So he'll live." he stated, testing the way it caused his heart to dip uncontrollably. Perhaps he'd soon get to speak to his injured little angel, and find out what his story was for straying under his tyres?

"Yes.. Now. Is there anything else you require before I leave?" she answered, unbelievably polite considering the type of responses she was receiving back.

"Urgh.. Can you get me a soda, too? My throat hurts like hell!"

The woman chuckled, and instead of offering the 'perhaps you should stop yelling so much' he rightly deserved, she simply agreed sweetly and turned to leave.

So he was in the same ward with the beautiful white-haired teenager he'd ..erm… _bumped into_ prior to this… that suited him just fine. If only he could catch a glimpse of his angelic face once again, to make sure he was indeed alive and breathing… but that would require him to stay in the seated position he was struggling to hold, despite being propped up against the headboard. And even to strain his injured neck. Perhaps he'd bother to get dressed and simply walk over, however in the name of sweet Osiris he was supposed to do that!

From where he was now, he could just about see the tip of the boy's snow-white mane above the sheets, and the slow, barely visible movement of the covers beneath his breathing… which may have only continued thanks to the machine….

………………………………......................................................................................................................................................

By the time the dutiful nurse had reappeared carrying a can of fizzy beverage for her dysfunctional patient, he was well off into the sweet land of slumber, an innocent smile stretching weakly across his lips. She set the drink on top of the clothes, and left quietly. They were always much easier to deal with fast asleep!

Upon awaking once again, Marik became aware of a fuss taking place the other side of the room which had been the reason he'd been disturbed, and soon came around to the idea that something may be happening to the angelic creature who'd been so badly injured while he'd dozed.

Indeed, when he beheld the clatter of nurses fussing over him, his overactive little mind began to assume the worst.

"What's happening? Is he okay?" he asked of them, but received no reply- to his great annoyance. The millennium rod lay beside him like a discarded teddy, and he seized it, readily.

"Oi! You lot! I command you to tell me what's going on!" he roared, exercising his authority. However, it seemed he had very little here, as he was still ignored, but now he had the added annoyance of watching about six backs fuss about the injured teen, bed-bound.

Suddenly one of the nurses carrying a bowl of something or other turned, and saw our grumpy little villain sitting cross-legged stubbornly up in bed, injuries forgotten, temporarily.

"You there! Tell me what's going on!" he demanded, again, the fires of determination lighting up his pale eyes.

"Oh… you're his friend they found at the sight of collision, aren't you? Well… he's…."

"Come on, he's what?!" Marik suddenly realised he didn't care in the slightest what they thought he was to the nameless kid, as long as he was all right.. But the way the whole conversation was going, for some reason could bring one's mind to assume the worst. If he was dying or dead, then Marik Ishtar wanted to know!

"He's.. actually, he's fighting the ventilator. We're trying to help him right now, and I'm not sure how it's come about, but I think he's waking up!"

There was that feeling… a little plunge of the heart Marik was no longer accustomed to. It felt like the delicate wings of a hummingbird were beating from within his chest…

"Really? So he isn't dead?" the woman rushed from the room without answering, and soon a few of the other nurses followed suit until only two remained at the little angel's side as he fought for his life and consciousness.

Our concerned little villain waited anxiously for another few minutes, until he spied one of the women switching the big machine to left of the boy's bedside off. The buzzing noise that had first greeted Marik this morning faded, and the closest nurse to him muttered something, and turned to leave. Once she had slid the door shut on the scene before her, Marik turned to the table and hurriedly began to pull the hospital robe over his head, completely disregarding the drink he had asked for so politely(A/n: not!).

His whole chest heaved with searing pain in every movement, but by being insistent he achieved dressing himself, however many minutes it actually took. When he was done, his wrist throbbed angrily.

"Is he awake? Can I speak to him?" he asked the other nurse, who almost appeared startled by being addressed, considering she'd been trying not to watch as he wrestled with the garment, which he frowned at when he realised it smelled repulsively like starch.

"No, he's sleeping. But he may wake up pretty soon, once the tranquilisers wear off… make sure he gets plenty of rest, though," she added, standing up. "I assume you want to be alone with him, so I'll be back in to check on you two in about fifteen minutes,"

He watched her reproachfully until she had disappeared, seething with the realisation that all the nurses here believed them to already be friends… or, he added to himself with a slight shiver… a little more than that? The room was still, and the pronounced breaths of the unfortunate angel in the opposite bed were very apparent now. He swung his legs across the edge of the bed causing a sharp twinge of pain to course through one of them, and tentatively rose shakily to his feet. The room spun on an invisible axis for a few seconds and white lights blinked in the corner of the little teen's bright eyes, before his balance returned. The same excellent balance he was forced to remember, that had landed him in this position in the first place.

As he tottered dangerously across the clean room, bare feet recoiling from the cold tiles lining the floor, the face of the injured teen he'd hit came slowly into view.

He was even more beautiful than he remembered him- pale, unblemished skin almost a colour to match his hair which was as bright and frosty as a spring lily. From where he lay cuddled up low beneath the blankets, all Marik could see of it was what strands of sun kissed fringe happened to have infiltrated the rest of his face. Curiously, Marik inched down the bed sheets slowly until the creature beneath them twitched slightly. This made him jump violently, which resulted in another stab of pain to course through his chest.

"H… hello?" but there was no answer, confirming he was not yet conscious. He was way more beautiful than any woman Marik had ever laid eyes on, he decided as he watched him. There was a mournful, troubled expression filling his angelic face and evoking another emotion from him that he wasn't used to: Pity. The boy opposite did not awake, but responded with a little mew of pain when the shivering villain brushed his arctic hair back from his eyes, and trailed his hand through it, hooking the soft strands as best he could behind the angelic little teen's ear.

It was the texture he imagined liquid moonbeams to be, silky smooth and deliciously cool, they trailed across his injured wrist like the steady trickle of a stream. It tickled a little.. But not awkwardly, it was a nice, comforting feeling… and even as he extracted his fingers, he could detect the warmth his own hand had lent it seeping across the coolness..

The pain it was causing Marik to stand finally took it's toll, so he was forced to sink to his knees by the boy's bed which brought them to eye level had the other been conscious. Nothing changed considerably from this angle, if anything it only made him even more attractive.

"You have to get well.. You just have to…" he told him, sadly, caressing the covers surrounding him. There were noises coming from down the hall, so he was forced to haul himself to his feet again, wincing with the jolt of reluctance from his body. And just before he was forced to flee back to his own bed to avoid being caught once again a little too close to the delicate little butterfly, he did something he'd never thought of doing to anything or anyone else.

He bent his head until his nose was against the comfortably smooth warmth of the boy's cheek, and with a wildly thumping heart, trailed his lips across the very corner of his mouth. It was warm and comfortable, and he thought he felt a weak response.. Just a little muscle spasm.. But it scared Marik so much he straightened rapidly just in time to wheel around, face to face with the nurse from earlier.

"So he didn't wake up?" she asked, almost too sweetly. Had she seen anything???

"No," he replied, testing the waters. "He's completely unresponsive. Now leave me alone, I want to go back to sleep."

It took an embarrassing three minutes for him to manage to limp back across the ward, still reeling by his own daring. He could almost imagine the burning eyes of the nurse who he had a fair idea what he'd done searching his retreating back… What the hell had he done it for, anyway? He certainly never would have, had the delicate little creature actually been awake. Was it just the painkiller drugs causing him to act irrationally? He sure hoped so, or else he may have to face the fact that he'd turned into a big softie. And that was just plain wrong!

Lying down, the moment kept replaying in his mind. It plagued him again and again, despite the fact that it had not lasted three heartbeats. The soft heat of him… the smell of starch and steriliser.. The fact that he'd _acknowledged_ him, no matter how small the spasm…. It was sort of comforting….

So much did it haunt him that it even filled his dreams when he fell back into restless slumber, and he dreamt the boy was standing over him… Smiling sweetly with two crescent-moon shaped wings spread wide, obscuring the window, and the night sky outside, so that they positively _dripped _with trapped moonlight………

Marik jolted awake with a yelp, and as soon as his eyes were open, realised indeed he was staring up into a chocolaty hazel pair, belonging to a figure bending over him. A golden circular object dangled from around his neck, glowing softly, right in Marik's face.

"Aaaaaaagh!" he yelled out in shock. But the figure bent double over him was reaching out, his warm yet curiously cold gaze travelling to the object lying near Marik's left hand. He recoiled quickly when our startled villain shouted out.

"Who the hell are you?" he roared, but immediately it was very clear who this was.. White, flowing mane of arctic hair.. Delicate features and slight of body, although two wide shoulders towered above him, with a bandage tightly binding his chest. This was his angel, really standing over him.

"Shut up, or you'll wake the whole city!" the 'angel' hissed back darkly, his 'r's curling under the rest of his sentence like a dog-eared newspaper. It was almost fiendish.. Dark.. and Marik would know evil anywhere…

"Who are you?" he repeated, realising it had been his millennium rod that the boy had been reaching out for.

"I could ask you the same question," he answered, stiffening, and folded his arms defensively.

"My name is Marik. And what do you want with my Rod?" he asked, making sure he was displaying his most fearsome expression. He sort of regretted his embarrassing display of affection from a little while ago. Sort of.

"You could say I'm a collector of sorts. In fact, that was what I wanted to speak to you about before you foolishly tried to murder me," the angelic teenager opposite added, sarcastically. The gold object against his chest continued to glow.

"Murder? You were the one running out in front of _me,_you fool!" Marik roared back, a little hurt at the transformation. He was still the fragile angel that had laid across the room until now… but there again he had never expected him to speak so harshly. But that wasn't a bad thing, it was actually sort of sexy.

"Shut up! You'll alert these pathetic mortals to my weak host's miraculous recovery, and I can't afford to reveal that yet. So keep your voice down and I might decide to let you live!" The demonic-voiced boy growled darkly, his mysterious chestnut eyes narrowing.

"You're really in a position to talk about life and death, aren't you?" retorted the little villain, not especially enjoying the nervous feeling the other gave him. It was like butterflies were trapped in his gut, another thing he was rather unaccustomed to.

"So.. Are you going to hand over that millennium item or do I have to _take _it from you?" the nameless teen positively growled, an uncharacteristic snarl peeling back his top lip to expose two curved fangs. Was he a vampire or something?

"Once I get what I want, this rod means nothing to me. So if you want my item, I suggest you help me get what I want," Marik invented on the spot, looking down at the object in his hand. So this kid obviously knew about their power… but the little villain had his sights set on something much more valuable.. He'd be Pharaoh… and perhaps if he agreed to help him, then the two could get to know each other a little better…?

"What's this? Mean nothing, you say? That's a little steep, isn't it?"

"Just help me enter the battle city finals, and win the Egyptian god cards. When I have all three, I'll gladly hand over my rod to you," he teased, glancing purposely at the object in question, instead of who he'd rather be looking at.

"Win the finals? Hahahahaha!"

Marik was forced to look up, to see what exactly was so funny. He hadn't said anything humorous, had he?

"You say this three days after I nearly die? I must congratulate you on how well thought out your plan happens to be, sweetheart!" the fanged boy chuckled, his angelic features curved devilishly into a grin.

"Oh yeah? Do you want the millennium rod or not, you ungrateful fool?"

"Hmm. We'll have to see how my host recovers, with respects to that. But why shouldn't I just simply _take_ what I require?"

Marik stared up at this beautiful creature, his fiendish eyes reflecting the power of night, the darkness he contrasted so sharply with. Was this a threat? Was his lovely little butterfly _threatening_ him?

"Because not only do I know the whereabouts of several other of the items, I know a secret of an exclusive power far surpassing that of the millennium items…" Two could play at that game! He thought desperately. And if he wanted to get closer to his threat-giving butterfly, he'd have to do it gradually…

"Fine. Apart from somehow achieving victory in a couple of weeks despite most of my ribs being shattered, what else is it you want me to do?" asked the nameless teen sarcastically, still with his arms crossed tightly across his chest as if he were sneering at our little villain.

"We must get revenge on Yugi Mouto," Marik prompted, not really sure whether the beautiful stranger would know him in any way, but secretly hoped he did.

"Yugi?… hmm…"

"Why? You know him?" he asked sharply. Something about the tone his voice had plunged to coupled with the wicked grin filling his face made him even more nervous than he already was.

"My host here happens to be friends with that brat Yugi Mouto.." he revealed.

This might just be a more interesting coincidence than Marik had first thought!.. And he'd get to work with this beautiful…Erm…. Well, whatever he happened to be…

"Look, I know you don't exactly like me, and I in turn dislike you but-"

"Yes, you really hate my guts. That's why you were kissing me about an hour ago…." he smiled back, fiendishly, his wicked chestnut eyes narrowed and shining with humor.

Oh he did not!

"Shut up! I only-" for once Marik had been rendered speechless. And that didn't happen too often, either. Was there any way he could deny it?

"Okay. Look, you'd better not breathe a word of that to anyone, or else you'll pay dearly!" he threatened, praying there was no colour to his cheeks. Because that was another thing he did NOT make a habit of…

"I won't say a word." promised his new friend unconvincingly, leaning down threatening towards our little villain, until they were almost nose-to-nose.. "As long as you promise not to mention this…"

"What are you.." was all Marik could manage to get out, before a very large lump rose in his throat, and the two chestnut pools of darkness that were the stranger's eyes loomed closer into his face. And hardly had he time to realise what was about to occur before he was upon him. Their lips met silently… Quite naturally, in fact.

Just as before, Marik noted, it felt slightly warm…the stranger's angelic lips were as soft as he could have ever imagined.. and he could feel the response of the other against his own mouth. Still, considering the unimproved mood of this unusual teenager, it was as gentle and as careful as he could have ever asked for. The beautiful creature found his way down kneeling over Marik, but still he did not back off. Each time he would pull back slightly from the show of passion, it would be less than a heartbeat away that he'd press firmly back against our confused little villain's lips.

Finally, he parted again, but this time began to speak, in a low and quiet snarl so that only Marik could hear.

"I can hear Yugi and his pathetic friends coming down the hall now, coming to see their mortally wounded friend. I'll introduce you to them as a _friend_ of mine, and then you're on your own. …-Remember, you _owe _me for this," he breathed, barely more than a hoarse whisper, and as an afterthought while Marik sat motionless and gawking at him, quickly ran his tongue across the confused villain's lower lip, almost as if to wake him up… to _arouse _him.. Sort of like an affectionate puppy, but meant in a much more erotic sense. Marik shivered predictably, the blood draining from his head in a sort of panic. Nobody had ever done that to him before, and it worried him how much he'd enjoyed it.

However, the strange white-haired boy was grinning dangerously back, unperturbed and thoroughly enjoying the other's feeling of panic and uncertainty.

"Now. Not a word, this is our secret," he grinned, leaning against Marik's leg while he slid back to his feet, and with that, he could no longer feel the heat of his breath against his face, was no longer surrounded by him.

"But I.. What was that for?!" stuttered the confused teen, a cocktail of unusual emotions clogging his usually crystal-sharp senses. His lip was still moist, and instead of wiping it with the back of a bandaged wrist like he had meant to, he bit down on it. if in doubt, he usually shouted orders. But unfortunately Odion or another of his servents were not present, so there was nothing left to do to hide his uncomfortableness.

Did he have a _crush_on this beautiful little butterfly?(Not that he was actually in any way little, it appeared he happened to be slightly taller than Marik now that he saw him standing). And was he another of the illicit spirits that Marik knew dwelled inside some of the millennium items? That would make sense, he supposed through shining eyes, watching him crouch down cat-like on the bed opposite as he gathered the covers around him. And even worse, he could hear the worried chattering of a group of people who already knew him for his name, but thankfully had never met him face-to-face. He would have to invent a name and become friends with them if they were to stay unsuspecting…

The blood was only beginning to flow back to his head, causing a rush of dizziness to overtake him. He couldn't possibly let his new associate think that he was a wuss! He, Marik Ishtar, was not intimidated by the strange boy! Well, he was forced to admit, he was just a tiny bit unhinged by his forwardness, but that was fine…just as long as he could keep it hidden, anyway…

"What did you say your name was?" he asked, voice still slightly shaky, although he tried his best to prevent the waver in pitch from being detected.

His dark little butterfly turned over on his side until he was obscured once again by white bed sheets all except two wild bunches of hair, protruding above them like animal ears. The door slid partially open, eager visitors crowding behind it.

"You can call me Bakura,"

**A/n: See what i meant about the yaoi thing? Anyway, you can see it's written slightly differently to the other one.. was it good? Don't forget to review and tell me what you thought of it! Should it continue in this tone? Or was it better in the intro?  
****Standard no-flaming rules still apply, and although the finalist order won't change from the anime, it will differ slightly as to who plays who. If you have suggestions for this, I'd be happy to hear them. And if you'd rather see Kura-sama and Marik becoming proper friends/lovers than how the _whole_ series would go, then drop me a line!  
Until next time!!**


	3. Chpt 2 Acceptance

**A/n: Okay, here we go! The second chapter of many! This one does serve more as a filler, but still manages to show each installment is becoming progressively longer each time..in celebration of the almost 200+ hits it got in the first five days! A big thank you to all my loyal (and new) reviewers, Seiri loves hearing all your opinions! Allright, on with the thiefshipping! And don't forget to review!**

**Disclaimer: Well, judging on the fact that I haven't owned Yugioh yet, this may come as no surprise to hear that i still don't.**

**Chapter 2-Acceptance**

The door slid eagerly back, admitting a nervous group of teenagers and a small man with silvering hair to the ward.

"Bakura!"

"We were so worried!"

"What happened, man?"

Marik sat, observantly up in his bed, still reeling slightly from the kiss. It appeared that they were so concerned with their injured buddy that they had not noticed him yet, which he was not uncomfortable with. He brought his blond eyebrows together when he spied the rival force in his life- the little tri-coloured haired boy who was the vessel of the Pharaoh's spirit amongst the group. The same spirit who had robbed him of his childhood and scarred him for life.

The same Pharaoh he planned to strip of his power and humiliate, for the world to see one day soon.

"Bakura!" one of the group- a golden-blond haired boy cried, arriving first at his bedside.

So far Marik had not seen any eyes meeting his, or even glancing into his general direction. It was almost like being invisible… which was a pretty interesting experience...

Was his new adversary going to land him in it by _not_ saying anything, or was he just building tension by pretending he was just waking up, or something?

The blankets stirred lightly, and a silvery white head emerged groggily.

"G…guys?" the voice surely had come from Bakura, however, Marik was a little surprised to note that it was a lot softer.. More angelic than he had heard it yet. This time it actually suited his appearance, and brought out his British accent stronger than the unholy snarl he had addressed Marik with only a few minutes ago. Was he putting it on to prevent his unsuspecting friends from noticing, or was it this was actually his host? No… surely he'd be too weak to appear yet?

"Yugi.. Is that you?" he asked in his little kitten-voice.

"Bakura, what happened? We came as soon as we heard!" cried the boy called Yugi, leaping forward. He was so much shorter than all of his friends that he would have had to look up to any of them… apart from the old grey-haired man, who could have been a relative of his..

"I… I don't recall all that much to be honest.." here he gave a weak little cough, which when he did, Marik could almost hear the collision of the pieces of shattered ribs in his chest- something he hadn't noticed previously. This only strengthened the argument that who had kissed him may have happened to have been a spirit, similar to that of the Pharaoh he was plotting to overthrow.

"We all thought you'd died!" cried the only girl who happened to be there, her voice as high and annoying as Marik had ever heard. It reminded him painfully of the nurse, who had been of little help to him in the previous chapter and he only scowled further.

"I… I suppose I nearly did.. I feel so careless for just running out like that.. It's a miracle the driver of the bike survived too…" he admitted softly, giving a small glance across the room with large puppy-eyes.

"In fact, he was the one who stayed with me until the ambulance… he… he saved my life.."

Cue our little villain.

"Errr…" he frowned unconvincingly under the heat of the spotlight, and mentally kicked himself. First he'd been ignored, and now every eye in the room was on him, excluding his own, thankfully. The last thing he'd want was to see himself drowning in a conversation he should be owning..

"Wow, so you _saved _Bakura?" asked Yugi, piercing him with innocent amethyst eyes.

"Yeah.. I did what anyone would do.." he smiled, this simple expression lighting up his whole tanned face and giving it the youthful glint it lacked somehow. He tried to conceal the millennium rod under a fold in the sheets with one hand, while trying to avert their attention back to the faking spirit occupying the bed opposite.

"So, hero, what's your name?" asked the teen with a straw-coloured mop of hair. His eyes were kind, and burned with a spirit Marik had long sensed could be of some use to him. But he couldn't control his mind just yet-in fact, his plan had already been foiled without them ever knowing…

"My name?" he asked, quickly trying to think of something that would not link him to the happenings that had already taken place. The mind puppets little Yugi had already faced.. The Egyptian god he had already lost to him…

"My name is Namu,"

"Namu, huh? Well nice to meet you, Namu, and thanks for saving Bakura," replied the kind-eyed teenager.

"So… who are you guys, then?" Marik asked, to distract himself from scowl that was threatening to reappear.

"I'm Joey, soon-to-be battle city champ!" replied his yellow-haired acquaintance.

"You wish," added the brunette beside the soon-to-be champ, snidely.

"Yeah Joey.. Anyways, I'm Yugi Mouto," smiled Yugi, which was only beginning to annoy our little villain. Of course he knew his enemies, what was the expression? 'keep your friends close, but your enemies closer'…and now he'd have to sit through all of their introductions… what could be more time-wasting? Apart from being landed in this Ra-damned hospital in the first place.

While he fumed secretly to himself, Bakura had been staring at him, two huge chestnut puppy eyes fixing him in a pitiful gaze. What did he want?

"-And both Yug and I just qualified for the finals!" Joey finished, after Marik realised he'd zoned out the whole while he'd been chatting excitedly.

"What-oh, that's amazing!" he grinned back, sheepishly, barely able to tear his eyes from the large round ones of his new partner -ahem- in crime…

"So you guys are all duellists?" he asked, still voice swept up in a flurry of kindness it angered him to carry on. But in order to appear unsuspicious, he would have to stick it-for the moment.. When he would get his revenge.. Then it'd be worth it..

"Nah, man, Tea and I are just here for the company," a boy with a pointed spike of hair the colour of Bakura's eyes answered him; Marik knew from observing Yugi that his name happened to be Tristan.

There was the sound of crunching metal, heralding the door sliding open.

As he glanced upwards, to our little villain's benign horror, the blond nurse appeared again- carrying a bottle of something and a spoon. She seemed pleasantly surprised to see the gravely injured Bakura half-propping himself on an elbow.

"Oh, we're awake, are we, mister?" she asked, addressing him as if he were but a child. (even though his sweet appearance naturally drew people to want to cuddle him, including (although he would not admit it,) Marik.)

"Yes, thank you," he smiled back even though the effort was thin and shallow. It appeared to hurt him to do this, even.

"And are these your friends?" she continued as she breezed past the members of Yugi's little gang, to the frosty-haired angel's bedside.

"Yeah. Hi, thanks for looking after him," responded Marik's mini rival, in his usual annoyingly cheery voice. "We thought we'd lost him when we first got the call,"

"Well you would have had, had it not have been from his inseparable friend over there," she smiled, inclining her head towards a horrified Marik, who prayed would not drop his real name. He was busted if she did that!

"Aw," he pretended to blush.

"Inseparable?" asked Bakura, showing interest to hear more. As if he didn't already know what she was on about!

"Oh you should have seen these two as the paramedics tried to get them into the ambulance! Just wouldn't let go of each other! If they hadn't have known better, they said it could have been rigamortis!"

A titter of nervous laughter rippled through the room, which our fuming villain had to join in with. Just great! Now his rival would think he and Bakura were… wait… were they? He was sure, from somewhere inside Yugi's mind, the Pharaoh would be laughing too. Laughing at he, the great Marik Ishtar!

"Hmm, I don't recall that," Bakura blushed, forced to lie flat by the nurse, who appeared to be administering him some sort of medicine.

"Neither do I," our frowning teenager replied, once again verbally cornered for the second time today-and not enjoying it one bit.

"Oh yes! You two have-"

Silence. What happened?

"Is that my toaster calling me?" and with that odd contribution, she breezed right back out from where she came from, leaving Bakura holding the spoon she'd been feeding him medicine with.

"I say.." he frowned, inclining his head like a lost puppy. Was that a complete fluke, or had someone been controlling her mind? Whoever it _wasn't_, included our confused villain, who had been reduced to sitting on his rod to conceal it this whole time.

"Huh." it appeared Yugi and his friends had been equally as perturbed.

"She's a few cards short of a deck," confirmed Joey, scratching his head and peering out into the corridor to see if she was coming back. Marik hoped for his sake she didn't.

"You reckon she- Bakura??"

It seemed that during the last few confusing seconds, the exhausted little brown-eyed boy had managed to fall fast asleep, still clinging loosely to the spoon.

"Don't sweat it, Yug, he's asleep,"

"Hmm…"

"Perhaps you should come back and visit him again later?" wondered Marik aloud, using the powers of suggestion he believed himself to have, regardless of whether he was controlling someone's mind with the millennium rod.

"Okay. I suppose so. He needs some rest after all he's been through.. You'll watch over him for us, won't you, Namu?" asked Yugi, his large eyes full of concern, pleading for a favour. Marik could no longer see who he was now supposed to be watching over, as he was concealed by the bed sheets.

"Sure, of course," it wasn't like he had more important things to be doing, he decided in his head, like say, defeating a pharaoh and putting a whole world to peace!

"I wonder what Bakura would have been doing in an alleyway, anyways," wondered the old man out loud, "When you know he always takes the main road home from school,"

"Perhaps he was taking a shortcut. Or nature called in the middle of nowhere. It's Bakura, who knows," invented Joey dismissively, watched as they left by two scowling grey eyes.

"Bye, Namu!"

"Bye!" he was really glad to see the back of them. As soon as the door was shut and he was certain nobody would here, he extracted the rod and brandished it at nothing in particular.

"What the hell was that?" he growled to the motionless figure across the room, glad not to have to adopt a fake good mood any more, for he certainly did not feel in the best of humour.

And just to make him even more miserable, his new 'friend' did not answer him at all.

"Bakura! Answer me!" he tried again. Surely he hadn't knocked himself out had he? But still the lump obscured by covers was unresponsive.

"Bakura, for the Ra damned last time!" he steamed, the thought of having to haul himself across the cool floor not really taking his fancy. But, he huffed to himself, it appeared he would be required to if he were to get any answers.

It felt like pussy-footing over ice-cubes, the floor as smooth and heatless as his previous journey, and his left leg threatened to give beneath him with every step.

"What is wrong with you!" he roared, when the sleeping boy's face finally came into view, half-shielded by bed sheets. There was a sort of empty, mournful expression filling up his beautiful face, his hand curled lightly around the metal spoon which cast a rough reflection of his stunning features.

_He was really asleep!_

"Wake up, you fool!" Marik was in no mood for sleeping hosts, he wanted to speak to his new associate, and nothing would stand in his way, he decided, while he was climbing on top of the sleeping boy and wrenching the covers off of him unkindly. The other gave a stir; it seemed he reacted badly to the cool air surrounding him as Marik sat mounted on his hips, cowboy-style.

The golden object around Bakura's neck lay with it's prongs scattered across his creased hospital gown, not glowing but still as sinister as last time he'd seen it.

"Oi!"

Two large, dark eyes opened groggily beneath him.

"N…Namu?" his voice was soft and Marik quickly deduced that this was not the Bakura he'd just gotten to -ehem- know.

"Keep your voice down!" he decided to threaten him, even though the volume of his own towered above that of the sleepy angel's.

"Did you really save me?" he asked, quite comfortable with the situation, even though he shifted his weight to one side, causing the confused villain to slide slightly and have to regain his balance.

"No, you ran out in front of me and almost got me killed!" he steamed, about to brandish his rod and demand to speak to the spirit when the boy he sat on gave a little cough which sounded curiously like a sob. Was this that pity emotion our little villain was unaccustomed to? What should he care if he'd hurt the impostor Bakura's feelings?

"Looks like I must have done something terrible to someone this time," he gasped, but Marik still couldn't tell whether he was crying or not, since he did have quite a few broken ribs…

"Did something? Of course you 'did something'! if you hadn't have done that something then perhaps neither of us would be in this hospital right now!" Marik continued to rage.

"No… the karma…" gasped his seat, letting his head fall to the right. The spoilt teenager mounting him thought he saw the slight glisten of a tear trickle across the bridge of his nose.

"Karma? What karma?"

"The vibes…" a shiver ran through Bakura, and he covered his eyes with a bandaged forearm. "The universe… is punishing us, Namu…"

He _was_ crying; however it was in a dignified, tolerable way, not like the insolent bawls of a child.

"What universe? _You ran out in front of me and almost killed yourself, for the love of Isis! Stop talking nonsense and let me speak to the spirit that dwells inside your millennium ring!"_ the violent villain sitting on his victim positively roared, as close to the tossing kitten's ear beneath as he could get.

"You don't know karma then, do you?" asked Bakura as he attempted to prop himself on two elbows, fixing him in a watery hazel gaze. A rogue teardrop found it's way across his cheek, and hunched gently at his chin.

"Who's Karma? Why do you expect me to know them?" still his mood had not improved, even though he had achieved making the fake Bakura cry. He became aware of an incessant buzzing noise somewhere to his left, and when he snapped his head around and a pain shot through it, it revealed itself to be a wasp. He swatted bad-naturedly in thin air; these insects would prove to be the death of him!

"Karma… is the force which governs each of our lives…" explained Bakura, not even attempting to stem the next tears Marik could see filling up his eyes. "If you do something good…" our little villain thought he was reaching out for his face but it by-passed him, ruffling his hair, and a second later he retracted it… and on the tip of his forefinger, sat the wasp which was busily cleaning it's feelers.

"What are you doing with that nuisance! Kill it before it stings one of us!" He commanded, brandishing his millennium rod. If he had have been able to, Marik would have long controlled the mind of every wasp on the face of the planet to have them commit simultaneous suicide. But unfortunately, their minds were far too simplified for him to use the rod on, so he was forced to kill them one-by-one.

"Everything we do has an effect.. It's what certain religions believe, anyway. Each one of us is the sole bringer and enjoyer of their own karma. Some call it luck." continued Bakura, lifting the finger holding the wretched insect up to his face, and smiled a watery smile, another tear sliding down his face as he observed it's tiny movements. "If I was to kill this wasp, for example,"

"I don't care if you _eat _the damn thing! I want to speak to the spirit, not you, you big cry-baby!"

"If I was to kill this wasp, the ill-though would return to me somehow.. Like- perhaps I'd stumble into a puddle. A car might splash me. My pencil might break in the middle of an important exam-"

"Will you shut up, for Ra's sake? All I want is the spirit of the-"

-"All you want?" giggled the host, interjected despite his tears.

"Silence, you _fool_!" Marik could have coaxed the rest of his intact ribs to shatter, he was so furious and humiliated. How dare this _child_?

"Yes. Well, since I met my Yami, he's brought nothing but bad karma back to me. -We sort of are the same person, you see…"

"Look, I'm going to hurt you quite badly in a minute if you don't.."

The wasp took flight with a frantic buzz.

"If you don't shut the hell-" Bang. The same hand the wasp had made itself comfortable on now had an exceptionally tight grip around Marik's neck, nails digging into injured bronze flesh.

"_What_ do you want?" Bakura's face was within inches of our villain's, a sudden wild, dangerous look filling his docile chocolate eyes. _This_ happened to be the person that Marik had been demanding to speak with. Now he was a little less sure about his wish.

"_Eeep_," he gasped, about the only thing he could manage to get out through the pain coursing from his blocked blood vessels. The blood pounded in his ears, and stars jumped in front of his eyes, but still he could not look away. He had no choice but to stare deep into those maniacal pools of pure darkness….

Finally, with a reluctant grunt, the stronger spirit released him but succeeded in almost throwing him over the bed side at the same time.

"I said, why have you disturbed me?" the tearstains from the fake Bakura's outburst of sadness were still visible on his beautiful cheeks, however it seemed highly unlikely any more would fall now he had finally appeared.

"I- who are you to question me?" demanded Marik in his most ferocious voice, stiffening while he regained his balance. It seemed this Bakura was as unaffected by his choice of seat as the last one had been. He bent his left leg up beneath the blankets, aiding the villain's balance without even realising it.

"If we want to get out of here soon, then my host needs my complete concentration in order to recover quickly enough. So I suggest if you want me to be able to enter the finals still and not just kill you right here, then I suggest you leave me be for now and stop trying to seduce my host!"

"Seduce your- look, I want to talk to you, not seduce that child!" the word 'seduce' used to describe something Marik had done, caused nausea to rise to his throat. He just was not the romantic type…

"Fine. You have three minutes. Start talking." the ring against his chest gleamed coldly, and attracted his attention slightly although the reason was not clear why. The wasp whined annoyingly from nearby.

"Did you control that nurse?"

"Maybe I did…"

"Were you really after my rod when you tried to commit suicide?"

"Ugh. Perhaps…"

"Do.. You ..._like_ me?"

"What if I do?" his voice was steely; unchanged in terms of maliciousness, as he stared down the trembling teenager on top of him. His arms were once again folded loosely, his wild silvering mane falling around his shoulders as he propped himself on the headboard.

"Are you a partner in this mission, to take down little Yugi?" Marik's voice was almost normal in terms of volume, however, he wanted to get some things straight. If he'd just kissed someone, then that counted for something.. However, what.. He wasn't entirely sure. Relationships, the loving kind, he knew developed between women and men.. And since both he and the stunning arctic-haired Bakura were both male (Last time he checked,) then that couldn't really apply to them. It was something completely in it's own category. Until he decided what exactly they were, he had to make sure the kiss stayed a secret. Even from Odeon.

"A partner? I made a deal to help you get what you want, correct?"

"Yes…."

"Then that is what I plan to do. As long as you are ready to give me what _I_ require?"

"The millennium rod?" asked Marik, to make sure. He didn't have any need for any of the items once he'd become pharaoh, but quite wanted to hold onto his rod until such time.

"I don't just want your _rod_…" admitted the demonic angel with a devilish grin, leaning closer to Marik's face again. Much as he did not mind being kissed by this individual, he was nervous as to how easily by-passers could notice, if they did. The glass was only frosted, and such shapes of people and their actions were easily distinguishable, while only the detail was omitted.

"What else do you want? The whereabouts to the other items I know of?" he asked- heart pounding and mouth dry. Two hazel pits loomed closer, until he was almost upright… both entwined and barely touching(apart from the fact that our villain was sitting comfortably across Bakura's lower body). Their noses were within an inch of each other, and Bakura's answer was distinguishable through the heat of his breath on Marik's lips…

"Shut up, mortal.."

His second kiss was less gentle-it comprised of Bakura using his tongue a lot more than was necessary, without actually getting into our stubborn villain's mouth, and using a painfully strong grip on the back of an injured neck to force them harder together. Very soon, Marik heard the crunch of metal denoting the doors being slid open.. He tried to struggle, but each time he did, it only resulted in the demonic snowy 'kitten' sliding the tip of his tongue between his lips, as if warning him of the punishment he would suffer if he were to escape. He tried to produce a throaty growl to hopefully scare off the spirit, but to his horror it came out more as a moan.

"Sorry, Namu, just forgot my-………………………Oh."

Finally, with a distasteful scowl sideways at the onlooker, Bakura tore himself from his plaything. Marik gasped gratefully, and realised their unwanted visitor was none other than the old man who had been with Yugi's friends. Marik's rod flew up almost of it's own accord in one hand, and he was forced to wipe his face with the end of the bandage binding his wrist with the other. A very awkward silence had ensnared all three occupants- however the white-haired demon had a dark pout sitting lightly on his features. The raised rod began to glow in it's very centre, emitting a yellowish beacon as he brandished it at the man, who backed away fearfully.

"Let me," Bakura offered, sliding out from under Marik and rising effortlessly to his feet, the drip which was in his arm dangling to one side and the ring hanging at his chest emitting violent bursts of gold light.

"I… I never meant.." stuttered the small old-timer, backing away desperately. "I won't tell anyone you're….." unfortunately exactly 'what they were' would be lost to time, as the man slumped mysteriously unconscious at the pale teenager's feet with a quiet 'not again…'

"I don't need you to send people to the shadow realm for me! What am I? Incompetent?" steamed Marik from where he sat hunched on his knees on the bed. It was the only thing he could break the air with after their latest kiss..

"Quit bitching," was the growled reply. He stood motionless before the figure lying face-down on the floor, the white hospital gown fluttering around his legs. It was like the peaceful calm before a storm…

"I mean what are we going to do with him?"

"I said, quit bitching. You were going to do the same."

"And what? What will that annoying nurse say?"

"She won't say _anything_, or else she'll take a little detour to the shadows too," the grinning teen turned, until his dark eyes met Marik's pale ones, burning in inner rage.

"What are _you_ going to _do_ with him?"

"How about you get your little servant to go and dispose of him, like a good little mortal." Bakura suggested boldly with a smirk.

"I don't thi- wait, how do you know about that?!" Since he had just met Bakura about three hours ago, surely the spirit hadn't been watching him for longer than he'd realised?

"Come now, I've been sitting at the foot of your bed since you became conscious. I mean, didn't you feel any spooky things earlier _touching _you?" he replied, another indescribably dark smirk filling his stunning features.

"Stop it, don't be stupid! Do you really think _I_ believe in ghosts?" our villain shouted in his defence- however it was completely futile to ignore the detail that if he didn't believe in such things, then why was he relentlessly hunting a pharaoh that had been dead for 5000 years?

"Hm. But you do acknowledge that I am a completely different entity to the child who is my host?"

"Why the hell was he blabbering about 'karma', anyway?" he decided to ask, avoiding having embarrassed himself. Marik Ishtar doesn't embarrass himself!!

"He does that."

The two stood staring at each other for another few seconds before the white-haired 'spirit' strode towards him, seated on the upturned covers.

It was the least they could do to prevent anyone from seeing them last time, which caused the villain's heart to skip a nervous beat. Surely he wouldn't risk another overly-suggestive display of … *hrm*.. Friendship?

"Move over."

"So what do you expect me to do then? Clean up _your_ trash?" asked Marik indicating the small unconscious(And now soulless) old man lying in the centre of the room. Really this was a ploy of distraction, in case Bakura decided to be affectionate again. He instead lay down beside our villian, and yanked the covers out from under him.

"Go on, unless you want it to become very awkward for both of us to remain here before the finals." Did he just…? Marik would not take orders from another!

… But as an afterthought, he _did_ need to speak to Odeon about the arrangements for the finals. It would be very difficult for his new associate to enter now, and so would need some help at least in that, before he could be of any real use.

… and why this show of obvious concern towards another, you ask? Who knows…? Perhaps this was his way of returning the affection, instead of slobbering all over someone's face.

"Silence! I'm trying to concentrate!" he snapped untruthfully, the rod glowing serenely once again between his fingers. Having a millennium item that could touch people's minds collectively was much more convenient than a mobile phone, he thought smugly, reaching for his closest servant's consciousness… it was there, as usual, obedient.

"_What is it, master?_" he asked, his deep voice echoing through the mental link.

"_Come back to the hospital…Odeon,_" commanded the spoilt teen. "_we need to settle something very important to my new plan…"_

"_Very well, master Marik… I should be there within a few minutes…"_

"Right, he'll be here soon. You need to settle a deal with me about how you intend to enter the finals while hospitalised." Marik announced, still happy to sit hunched beside the demonic teenager beside him-now with his back to him.

"What's it to you? If you're so concerned with me, then how are you to enter yourself?"

"You fool! Of course Odeon has already qualified the two of us! If you want me to command him to go find you a cheap spot in these finals, then I suggest you be a little more thankful!" roared back the deeply tanned blond, a pain in his chest causing him to bend double. Bakura still did not turn over to face him.

"Whatever."

Forced down by the new pain which had not bothered him until now, he curled up beside this new 'associate' and to avoid resting his head against the curve of Bakura's thigh through the sheets, he kept it aloft which threatened to cause a cramp.

"Marik?"

"What?"

"Do you really have to lie on top of my covers? You're going to pull them off of me!" growled Bakura, still motionless.

"Well excuse me, wise guy! If you have an ulterior suggestion, then I'd like to hear it!" he wouldn't be bullied out of a place to sit. After all, Bakura didn't own the hospital beds!

"I don't care if you lie _under_ them! Just leave me be!" was his furious reply.

"_Under them_? With you? Who do you think I am, you useless fool!"

"Shut up!"

"No, _you_ shut up!"

Thankfully, at that moment the caped dark-skinned Odeon wrenched the doors apart.

"You called, master?" he was panting; apparently he may have ran a distance to arrive so quickly. The navy cloak hanging from his shoulders fluttered in the draft the open door was causing.

"Yes, Odeon. How many locator cards have you got for us?"

"The twelve, as you requested." He strode into the room and shut the frosted glass behind him. "Why?"

"I need another six, for my associate here.- and a dual disc, actually…" Marik told him, indicating his head towards the unmoving lump beneath the covers.

"No, I don't think the dual disc is entirely necessary… actually.." the silvery-haired teenager said thoughtfully, finally sitting up.

"Why? I don't see you with one,"

"_You_ yourself can help me get it, once we leave here," he grinned, staring into Marik's light eyes and making sure it was only possible that the blond could see his face so that Odeon would feel isolated.

"Is this a friend of yours?" he was forced to ask, hiding a small grin.

"Silence! We are simply doing business! Nothing else!" the haughty spoilt teenager roared, feeling heat rise to his cheeks. His business partner was still staring him down, fearlessly, his swirling mocha gaze as piercing as ever.

"Really?" his 'r' rolled threateningly and he wavered dangerously on leaning down into Marik's face again.

"Silence!" he roared back, waving the arm holding the rod dangerously close to Bakura's head, deterring him.

"Do you have to insist on being such a mood killer?"

"What mood killer? Do you want help or not?!" he growled back.

"Last time I checked it was you asking for the _help_." Bakura reached up and brushed the blonde's fringe from his face with a finger.

"Um.. Will that be all you require, master Marik?" asked the forgotten Odeon, casting an awkward glance across the unconscious man blocking his path by his feet.

"What? Yes… actually no. Can you get rid of him there on the floor? It'll look suspicious if he's left with us."

Bakura's smile widened, and when Odeon turned his back, Marik yanked his 'friend' s' hand down from it's place entwined in the side of his long hair.

"Stop that!" he warned, quietly.

"May I ask what happened to him?" the servant asked as he lifted the lifeless form effortlessly and threw him over his broad shoulder.

"He walked in on us ki-"

"Ahh- what Bakura means to say here-is he almost uncovered our plan! We had to dispose of him!" our villain cut across, thumping the pale teen in the chest with the rod as hard as he could.

He received a demonic growl in way of reply.

"Understood, Master. I shall work immediately on the extra locator cards," the servant bowed as best he could while hauling the little unconscious figure, and took no time in departing. It may have been that he had no wish to intrude on the intimacies of his little master and the new concern, which just so happened this time to be another human being. First it had been motorbikes.. Now this…

As soon as he had gone, Marik rounded on Bakura.

"I don't want anyone knowing about… us!" he struggled to put his plight into words, this time.

"Us? Just because I kissed-"

"No! Just shut up! I thought you promised not to tell anyone!" our villain tried to stare him into submission. The two hazel eyes holding his, absorbed the malice and threat like a sponge while still holding a sort of wicked sparkle.

"As you wish. But you could use this opportunity to fool those meddling kids-Yugi and the rest- by using our agreement." Bakura's beautiful features remained steely, a hand resting on his hip as he sat up.

"Using what? Do you really think I want them to see me…" there was no easy way to even bring himself to utter the words. What a terrible thought, his enemy seeing him in such a compromising position, let alone actually condemning himself to it!

"If you pretend to be romantically involved with my host, of course they won't suspect your plan!" he explained, blankly- obviously not seeing the unappealing side that Marik did.

"Do you really think I like your host like that?" was all he managed in reply.

"Oh come on, it'll be me really! You actually think my host would disgrace himself like that by kissing another male human?" the white-haired teen bared both fangs.

"And _you_ would disgrace yourself?"

"To me, it's not disgrace…"

There was no arguing, and before our villain could gather his thoughts together, he had been forced into another kiss- and was not permitted escape this time- by two strong arms, one of which was encircled in a bandage…. He could just feel the faint pulsing of a heart somewhere through his chest, joining with his own… and for the first time in his life, (Almost) he returned this display of affection. Not that he had much choice.

From then on, the finals drew ever closer, and with each passing day, the bond that had formed (however dysfunctional) strengthened between the little evil genius and the spirit of the millennium ring. Soon their wits (and relationship) would be pitted to the test, the test which would tax each finalist to their own personal limit…

………………………………............................................................................................................................................

"Marik?"

"What the hell do _you_ want now?"

"I said stop taking my sheets!"

"Let go! That's my pants, you fool!"

**A/n: Aw, gotta love their constant bickering! Okay, anyway. I have a request. This story really needs a make-out scene with these two, doesn't it? let's have a little vote.. who wants one?? And based on the amount of people who review this time, i'll really pull out the stops to give you lot the most unusual.. and perhaps original make-out scene as i possibly can in the next chapter! So all this story's fans out there... named and unnamed... Seiri wants to hear from you!!**


	4. Chpt 3 In sickness and in open windows

**A/n: I regret to announce, that as i wrote this it became so unbelievably long I am forced to leave this over-hyped make-out scene until chapter 4. Fear not, it'll be up in the next two or three days, I'm almost done writing and editing it.  
As it is, this chapter serves to be very important later on in this theifshipping tale, so even though some of it seems a bit repeated, it's not.. and will come back to haunt us by chapter ten or so... also, by cutting some of the longer ones in half it helps Seiri to make sure that this story doesn't end before it's due time. It's not to be finishing any time soon, folks!  
Thanks again to all my reviewers, especially the new ones. Seiri welcomes you openheartedly :). But don't think I don't love you loyal ones who have been with it since it's intro! Because i do!  
Oh, and don't forget to review when you're done!**

**Disclaimer: Nope, still have no ownership of these two smexy characters. Oops, i mean.._ any_ thing to do with the show^_^..**

**Chapter 3- In sickness and in open windows**

There was the faint odour of bleach in the corridor as Marik made his way through the lifeless glass room. It was now almost a week and a half ago that he had been involved in a terrible collision involving his beloved motorbike and a strange pretty white-haired boy he was now aware was possessed by a demon of some description. His whole plan had been compromised, but he'd decided that was okay, seeing as he now had a new one.

The pointed handle of his millennium rod had once again taken it's rightful throne between his belt and the back of his dark trousers, and the dying rays of sun were filtering in through the glass above, marking the way down to reception in a hazy river of brightness- everything as it should be.

…..or should have been, for the snowy-haired individual mentioned above was not as well as first anticipated. Not that Marik Ishtar usually cared about this sort of thing, but Bakura was deserving of such concern… or more importantly, the spirit who possessed him at regular intervals was.

When he reached the reception- a large round room holding stairwells behind it's main desk and two large glass passages branching off from the sides like a shopping mall, he headed immediately for the desk. There were so many people all around him now that he could have been forgiven for thinking he was in a sardine can. That was another thing Marik hated about places such as public hospitals- the amount of other humans he'd have to encounter. After growing up for twelve years barely seeing anyone other than his father, sister and adopted brother, the shocking transition he had undergone to integrate himself into this sort of society had never ceased to amaze him. Who knew there was this many people in the world…?

After wrestling his way towards the slim woman operating the computer through hoards of sick people sporting bandages, casts and nurses fussing over others, it was clear that he would not get answers without a fight.

"Hello, how may I help you?" asked the woman with chocolaty curls flowing down her shoulders. Marik scowled.

"Where is Bakura?" he asked, having to shout over the deafening din all the other patients were causing.

"Oh, you're looking to go and visit someone?" they all probably recognised our non-complacent villain by now, he'd been here every day since his own discharge. But this woman was new-Marik didn't remember seeing her before.

"Yes, Bakura. Where is he? You moved him!" Marik's tone was accusing- that tended to happen when he was concerned since he no longer knew how to express any of his emotions properly these days. Almost all of the nurses had grown to know that these two had a special sort of friendship, the sort that meant that they would spend a lot of time together once they left. The sort of intimate 'agreement' our villain was not very fond of admitting he and the angelic demon had.

"…Right. Who are you looking for?"

Our villain growled. This was time wasting.

"Bakura! Weren't you listening to me?"

"Okay.. Last name?" she was tapping something into her computer.

"What last name? His name's Bakura, for the love of Osiris!" every second that passed took another from his plan coming into action.

"Um… I'm sorry, there's a lot of patients here at the moment, you'll have to be more specific," she concluded. Marik banged his fist on the wooden counter, and a severe pain shot through it. He still had injuries too.

"Come on, woman! I've been here every day! Can someone not explain where he is now?!"

He was beginning to make a scene in the lobby; women with children had stopped to stare, and other sick people were all eavesdropping, however, our villain didn't really care that much at the moment. Another of the receptionists swung around on her black swivel chair, and leaned towards the other. They whispered privately for a minute.

"..And he's one of the motorbike crash boys that were inseparable all this time," was all Marik managed to scavenge eavesdropping. "They're really the sweetest little fairytale any of us have heard about in a long time. Did you know they hadn't even met before the crash?…it just proves you can meet a loving partner under the most unusual of conditions..!"

"Excuse me!" roared the left-out blond, whacking the desk with his palm this time, although it still stung excruciatingly. How dare they gossip like that? They were none other than _business _partners, not some sort of grossly misshapen fairytale characters!

"Oh, isn't that lovely? It gives us all hope we won't be lonely our whole life!" answered the first, out loud this time before she turned back to the steaming teenager in front of her.

"He's down in room four on the east wing, honey," she finally answered. Marik shivered in suppressed rage. _Honey_? If he hadn't have been in such a hurry, he would have gladly stayed to give her a good piece of his mind, and perhaps to even hear the last warning she uttered:

"Oh, wait! The doctor should be in to tell you how serious his condition is!"

However, the rushing villain now elbowing his way back through the crowd was too busy to have heard her. As far as he knew, his associate was all but recovered, still being kept in because he'd had a temperature a few days back. There was urgency to his step as he fled down the east wing they had been in together a little over four days ago.. Why had they moved him?

"Bakura!" he roared, reaching a solemn door adorned with a simple four on it's immaculate surface. "What the hell's going on?" it opened easily to admit him, however the second he'd arrived across it's threshold, he instinctively knew there was something not quite right. The room was smaller than the last they had both been in, sunlight filtering cheerfully in through drawn blinds over a plant in the corner guarding a table which was almost stroking the bed. It itself took up over half the tiny space, and was filled with a small figure gasping for breath, with a flurry of untidy white mane and dainty features.

"Bakura!" Marik repeated, leaping forward to his associates side. He received no answer, the little form beneath the blanket tossing restlessly. He placed a hand to the other's forehead, which almost scalded him with the damp heat being emitted. Bakura recoiled from the coolness of Marik's hand.

"You're burning up," he reached down and encircled him with both arms, one supporting the back of the other's neck and the other just below the line of his hospital gown's front as he attempted to haul him to a sitting position. "What's wrong? I though we agreed you'd be better by today!" he prompted, the only thing he could think of saying to start any sort of conversation, since the spirit that possessed the little teen he held propped in his arms had not left him since Marik had been discharged.

Two very glazed hazel eyes opened halfway beneath him, and his head lolled back limply.

"N…Namu?" this was now the host of the associate Marik had befriended, who as far as he could make out, spouted nonsense, shied away from our villain when he became enraged, and cried sometimes too. Not the most helpful of critters, as far as hosts could go, he didn't even know Marik's real name; he knew him as the fake one he'd given the pathetic friends of the 'impostor' Bakura so that he could fool them into accepting him. Little did anyone (Except this spirit) know that he, Marik Ishtar would get revenge on an ancient entity he knew dwelled within one of these 'friends'…

"What's going on? Why are you still sick?" shouted our impatient villain, restless himself over the approaching finals he was trying to enter. If they weren't careful, they'd miss them!

"N..Namu.. You came back.. I was afraid you'd let me die.." the kitten-like boy gasped, paler than usual. He seemed to be completely unable to support himself at all, the blazing warmth of his shoulder blades beneath Marik's strong palm limp and soft.

"Die? What are you on about? You're not dying, you pathetic child!" he roared back, but only received a slight whimper which sounded curiously like a giggle. Marik shook him gently. "Where is the spirit of the ring?"

The kitten he was holding up glanced with unfocused chestnut pools, unable to even fully open them against the assault of daylight.

"Everyone abandoned me since I'm so…sick!" he giggled, completely delirious with fever. It must be dangerously high, even his breathing was ragged and laboured.

"Get him, for Ra's sake. You can do that, can't you?" Marik tried, holding him with a softer embrace. Not only could he feel his left arm's feeling draining away, but the unbelievable heat of Bakura was beginning to become unbearable.

"Once upon a time he loved me…" continued the delirious angelic figure in his light British jargon, now jerking his head sideways in Marik's arms. "But now he loves another… another…another…"

"Why can't you speak sense, you fool? I need to speak to him and all you ever do is talk crap!" Marik roared, his concern bursting out as a horrible mixture of loud voice, harsh words and pounding heart. The ring was slightly visible beneath the blanket rolling down his front as our villain shook him desperately, the host now muttering some song beneath his breath like a crazy person. Eventually he gave up, and lay him back against the painfully cool pillow.

"Don't leave me… like all the others did," whimpered the feverish teenager when Marik attempted to release him, grabbing his white cotton jacket with an alarmingly tight grip, considering his condition. Our frustrated villain was forced to rest his forehead against the damp heat of this host's chest.

"You are so- pathetic!" he growled, while his left arm slowly cooked in the oven it was trapped in, which was the space between his back and the bed. Not only that, but he was dully aware of how close they now were.

"Bakura _really_ loves you!" he giggled feverishly again, now with both dark eyes shut tightly.

Our villain was about to show him just what he thought to that statement, when he became aware of a chuckling noise behind him, and angling his face just so he could see through the gap between his arm and his body upside-down, he spied a man in a white jacket with a stethoscope dangling limply from his shoulders like a tame python.

"Are you here for the party too?" asked Bakura over our villain's back, apparently noticing his presence as well.

"How long have you been standing there?" asked Marik, still trapped and dangerously close to removing his arm by resorting to violence.

"You two really are the talk of the hospital," chuckled the doctor, amiably, approaching the two, unaware of what he'd be in for, had our villain's hands been free.

"Yes. What is wrong with this blabberi-I mean, my '_beloved friend_' here?" he enquired, his eyebrows furrowed with frustration, and teeth almost bared in discomfort. From the inverted view of the man he had, he could see the beginnings of a hearty chuckle filling the doctor's lungs.

"Since you last came, I'm afraid we've become aware that he has a bad infection on the puncture wound on his thigh. That's what's causing the high fever and deliriousness. He's been calling out for you, all day you know," he explained, continuing to approach the two slowly.

"Me? Wait, can't you cure him quickly, or something?" our villain asked, aware that he would have to force the kindness he did not really feel, in order to sort everything else out fast enough.

"We've already given him the highest dose of anti-inflammatory antibiotics we have, so I'm afraid we'll just have to wait on them to work!" The white-coated doctor arrived at the two entangled awkwardly, and pressed a palm to Bakura's head. "Oh, we do seem rather warm, don't we?"

"Yes, He's been saying all sorts of silly things!" false grin plastered to his face, Marik fixed the man in a puppyish gaze. "You think you could help me? My arm's going numb…" so immediately help was administered, freeing him, and a surge of prickly pins and needles rushed into the depths of his fingers, angrily biting at his wrist when it was moved. However, the deathly stiff grip Bakura still possessed of his jacket, he could not coax out.

"You going to leave me?" he asked, cocking his head weakly to the right, his gleaming brown eyes slightly open and fixed on Marik.

"N.. no, of course not," he smoothed back damp white fringe from where it was plastered to his head, faking a concern he didn't really feel. Now his second plan was foiled! And on top of that, his hand was still plagued by invisible pinpricks, and with every stroke of the feverish host's forehead, his palm tingled in protest.

"Do you see that bowl over there? If he gets too hot, you can put that cloth over his head if you'd like," suggested the doctor helpfully, mistaking his grimace of pain for one of worry. "the nurses have been doing that every hour, but you can take over if it suits,"

"Right. Thanks for your help," he grinned back, nearly unable to contain his fury as he reached across for the ceramic bowl sitting on the table, Bakura still clinging to his jacket. How in the world did he manage to have arrived into this predicament? He asked of himself mentally, suppressing a snarl while wringing out a cream facecloth. The water was as cold as the demonic force that possessed this boy, that glaring look that sent a shiver to the base of Marik's spine. The icy snarl he addressed him with…

Slapping the cold cloth against the host's hot head, and watching the droplets of water that had eluded the wringing sliding down his flushed cheeks like teardrops, he still could not shake the fury coming over him. How _dare_ this… host… become desperately sick on the dawn of his new plan?

"I suppose I'll leave you for now," the doctor finally turned and Marik glared at his retreating white back. "You know, you two are really something. An inspiration to us all.." he added, as he let the door close softly behind him. As soon as our furious villain was certain nobody would hear him, he helped himself to a fistful of the pale boy's gown and lifted it with a jerk towards his face. The wet cloth tumbled onto the bed sheet, and the limp figure dangled pathetically from his iron grip.

"Don't you understand that you're ruining my whole plan, by being sick? I want to speak to the spirit so I can sort this all out and all you're doing now is being a big nuisance!" he whispered icily, venom flowing from each syllable.

"Y…your voice is so loud…" Bakura gasped, recoiling from him with a mournful expression of discomfort.

"Well it wouldn't be if you got the spirit I want to speak to!" he retorted, shaking his victim with as much strength that remained in his weakened arm. To his extreme displeasure, Bakura began to quietly sob-_again._

"Y.. you're angry.. with me, aren't you?" he asked, eyes still shut tight.

"Yes! Why can't you just get him for me and then I wouldn't have to shout at you!" Marik suggested, but it was of no avail. Releasing him and watching the beautiful angelic figure drop with gravity against the mattress, our villain turned furiously afterward towards the door.

"He..he's out.." sobbed a little British voice behind him. "I.. I don't know where he goes when he does… please… don't let me die.. He'd never forgive you if you did…"

Marik halted in his tracks.

"Out?"

"Yes…don't go… I beg of you, Namu…"

Slowly, with the weight of an emotion he had not felt in a long time, he turned back and beheld the pathetic mess his associate's host had been reduced to. The soaking cloth had infected the whole right side of his pillow, resulting in a discoloured puddle, which he was lying in. He took a few hesitative steps back towards the two demanding dark eyes enrapturing him. There was no way he'd get anything done today now, anyway.

"I'm not going. And… my name is Marik.."

………………………………..................................................................

Marik became aware of an odd sensation as his consciousness drained back to him- it appeared someone else's tongue was stroking the roof of his mouth. It took the guts of three seconds for him to realise he'd been asleep and just how new this sensation happened to be. There was a pause as the owner of the tongue detected movement, and it inched it's way across his own like a caterpillar. Now he was forced to realise he was in danger of choking on someone else's saliva…

With a cough, his light grey-blue eyes flicked open, and the tongue was withdrawn, leaving a rope of saliva across our villain's lower lip. A haze of lamplight greeted them, along with a scowling face who was staring down with demonic chocolate irises from nearby.

"What the hell was that for?" gasped our little villain, an unfamiliar taste plaguing his taste buds while he was forced to wipe his mouth with a forearm.

"Good evening to you too," growled the owner of the pair of dark eyes. Marik realised he must have taken to dosing since we last checked in on him, propped up by the hospital bed on his knees-not a very comfortable position in the slightest. How long he had been asleep for could be anyone's guess right now…

The room was enveloped by soft light emitted by the lamp he had not previously noticed in the corner, curtains drawn and the unmistakable enchantment of night played through the hospital.

"What time is it? Are you better yet?" asked Marik, lifting himself stiffly to his feet. Stiff was not the word, it felt like they had been removed and now were no longer a part of him, refusing to take orders. Not the sort of unruly behaviour his millennium rod could fix, unfortunately.

"What do you expect? My host appears to have picked up something nasty on his leg," the spirit sat up cross-legged, threw the blanket to one side to reveal both curved, pale legs and proceeded to hitch up the end of the gown, much to the embarrassment of Marik. "It appears my efforts to close off the wound have been successful, and hopefully that medicine the useless doctors here have administered will aid his recovery," he continued, now peering below the gown himself. Just as Marik began to turn away in case the spirit decided to reveal much more of his modesty than he was willing to bear witness to, he finally halted with the end dangerously close to his crotch, revealing a blotchy scar creeping close along his inner thigh. It appeared it was not so long in stopping bleeding; the fresh appearance of clotting was apparent on it's surface.

"For Ra's sake, cover yourself up, man! Do you really think I want to see that much of you?" he grumbled, still slightly embarrassed, feeling heat rising in his cheeks.

"Well don't you?" Bakura grinned back promiscuously, two fangs curving handsomely down his lower lip.

"Are you going to come with me or not?" Marik chose to spit as he turned away, not trusting to reply directly.

There was so much he had not seen for in this plan, and hopefully they could still get out of there easily even though Bakura had been very, very sick, only hours ago.

"Yes, of course I'm coming. Where's my clothes gone?" he asked glancing around, thankfully dropping his 'sexy' tone as quick as he'd adopted it.

"I brought them yesterday, they're under your bed in that bag," our villain replied touchily, caressing the tip of the rod with a finger and deliberately avoiding looking at the white mane of his associate, indeed looking any of him. It appeared the cloak of night really had descended upon the hospital, the plush blackness in the corridor outside was seeping in through the window of number four's door.

"What's wrong, Marik? Aren't you going to help me?" asked a voice dryly behind him, the 'r' in 'Marik' dipping roughly to trip the rest of his words. Was Bakura mocking him?

"What are you, incompetent? Of course I'm not helping you dress yourself!" our villain grumbled back, his back deftly facing the other. Marik was above helping most people, and even if Bakura was worthy of his concern, it did not stretch to this sort of intimate 'assisting'.

"Please yourself," came the grumbled reply, and next there was the angry rustle of plastic bag, and Marik was forced to listen to the painfully slow removal of his hospital gown.

"Marik? Can you hold this drip? It's getting in my way," he asked, to the reluctant figure stroking the golden object wedged between his belt hook.

"Are you decent?"

"Depends on what you mean by 'decent',"

"Are you wearing clothes, dammit!"

"Do you want me to be?"

"Shut up, you fool! Do you want help or not?"

"Turn around." The spirit stood in the centre of the floor, propping up the drip which had been entangled once in the lining of his long, stripy t-shirt. Thankfully this had adopted the role of the hospital gown, although it was much shorter, barely covering his thighs. Marik shivered, and made sure to avoid looking there.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked, wary to approach him. He could hear the faint tapping of footsteps in the distance.

"Hold this," Bakura waved the drip nonchalantly, his other arm draped with a pair of white jeans, forcing our uncomfortable friend to relieve the object and hold it aloft. The spirit was about to slide into these, when the handle of the door turned. The two froze; caught in the act.  
......................................................................................................................................................

"Oh, you're up!" chuckled the doctor, peeping through a crack in the door. Marik felt the colour drain from his face, aware of how little Bakura was wearing.

"Uh…" he gulped, and slid a half-hearted glance into the pale face of the other.

"Oh yes, thank you! I feel so much better!" cooed a predominantly British accent, a sickly sweet smile painted to the speaker's lips. He took a tiny peek downward, and seemed to recoil when he realised he was only covered by a t-shirt.

"You sure you're well enough to be dressing?" asked the doctor sternly, although it was directed more to Marik. He grinned sheepishly, the millennium ring dangling almost to his hands, joined like a shy schoolgirl in front of him.

"Oh, dear- it looks like I'm not doing the best job of it, though!" he grinned, bashfully, and pulled embarrassed at the ends of the blue striped t-shirt, jeans forgotten. (Was this the host released once again? Wondered Marik desperately, still clutching the raised drip which in turn was still protruding from his polite little friend's arm.)

"No, I'm supposed to be helping him," grinned our very compromised villain, his transformation from evil teenager to kindly misshapen fairytale character almost seamless.

"I hope you're not thinking of leaving, are you?" the doctor asked, glancing from one to the other.

"Oh.. What gave you that idea? I can barely stand on my own!" giggled the host, grabbing Marik's outstretched arm, bringing it down without warning. "Ahh.. See? But sitting around in that gown, it makes me feel like I'm wearing a dress!" he continued, with another vomit-inducing giggle.

"Yes, well I'm glad to hear that, you'll have to stay put here for another few weeks, mister!" smiled the doctor, "If you're still having trouble in a few minutes, then give me a shout and I'd be happy to assist!"

"Ah-no, it's okay, I've got him," our villain faked the smile, and quickly supported the other delicately around his waist. He could feel the cold metal of the millennium ring against his fingers, and the weight of the other pressing into his chest. This host of the spirit was beginning to try Marik's patience a little too hard, over the past few hours. If he couldn't even hold his own weight, then why had the spirit released him at the first sign of danger like that?

"Are you okay?" he asked of the weak little kitten, quietly and very uncharacteristically into his ear.

"Yes, thanks. Just.. Just a little dizzy," the arctic haired boy reached out a delicate hand and touched Marik's face softly. Oh how he longed to break that fragile little wrist right now! "Thank you… Namu.."

"Anything for you, my little snowdrop,"

_Snowdrop? Where _in the sweet name of Isis' third son's fourth daughter had that come from? He roared to himself internally, forcing the vomit to remain in his stomach until the doctor had gone.

"You really are too kind," the host was smiling, and with eyes shut in bliss, had the guts to nuzzle him- nose to nose. Marik fought the indignant roar that clamoured in his chest, along with the rising bile, and instead joined in. The doctor was again chuckling.

"Okay.. Just be careful with the drip, it's the only way we can get fluids into you at the moment!" he let the door click shut in his absence, and no sooner had the crack disappeared, than Marik thrust the boy nuzzling him as roughly as he could to the ground, whipping out the rod from his belt hook and thrusting it into the frightened boy's face.

"_You EVER touch me like that again, and I will use this rod to control your mind, forcing you to rip out your own heart and then I'll feed it to you!_" he spat, in the most frightening voice he could muster. The figure hunched half-naked on the ground stared for a second with heartbroken tears welling in his deep chocolaty eyes, before they seemed to take on a colder approach.

"That was me, you insolent mortal!" came a jagged growl.

"…You.. Urgh, that was disgusting!" Marik retorted, hastily lowering the golden rod.

"And me drooling into your mouth earlier wasn't?"

"Shut up, you fool! I never said that wasn't either! And if you ever decide to hug me again, I swear it'll be the last time you hug anyone, because I'll rip your host's arms off!" Marik continued, in his pent-up state, the drip lying discarded on the floor. "And hurry up, this just illustrates why we must leave at any moment!"

"I wasn't kidding when I said I needed help,"

"So now you play innocent? For Osiris' sake, pull yourself together.. And put some pants on!"

"I would if you hadn't almost broken both my legs!"

"Oh shut up! You're just trying to annoy me, now!"

Fuming, the spirit seated with both legs drawn around his left side, Marik standing above him, refusing to even look, was what they had both been reduced to. Bakura, realising he was getting no further pity after exhausting the rare emotion from him a second ago, reached for the white jeans independently.

"Fine! Pout like the spoilt little child you are!" he retorted, flapping the legs of the trousers out once before attempting to ease himself into them.

"I am not a spoilt child!" Marik decided he enjoyed seeing the spirit almost helpless, it made him feel superior. And that was quite a delicious concept for him to daydream about…

"You'll think twice before embarrassing me in front of anyone again, won't you?" our villain gloated. The grounded teen shot him a puppy-killing glare, before rising to his knees to buckle the white jeans hanging slackly from his hips.

"Where do you plan on going, now that it is deep into the night?" he asked instead, when he noticed Marik staring while the button looped through it's rightful space, and the zip rose to meet this, directed by two dainty fingers he had not long before this envisioned breaking.

"What?"

"Have you failed to notice it is after two in the morning, or are you so enraptured by my pants to have missed that important detail too?"

Marik scowled; after all that was not the reason he'd been watching.. Nor did he feel any strange hormonal changes concerning the alluring position Bakura was kneeling in, his back arched royally as he beheld our grumpy villain from the ground..

"No, perhaps if you didn't love yourself so much you'd notice I was trying to think of a plan to get us out of here." he answered, quite proud at his skills of lying. Not that Marik Ishtar was bad at anything in particular…

"Well sorry to disappoint but I'm not like you, and I already have a way out of here. Pass me my shoes and I'll show it to you," retorted the fanged teen, gesturing toward the discarded bag on the edge of the bed. But damned be the day our obstinate little villain would make anything easy for someone else!

"No! Get them yourself, you pathetic fool!" he roared, stroking the head of the rod once again.

"You are such a child.." Bakura muttered, having expected this reaction anyways he hauled himself awkwardly back to his feet and reached for the bag.

"And _you're_ no better!"

"You're the one who can't even distinguish me from my host,"

"Oh yeah? Well _you_ kiss like a Labrador!"

"Says the one who's never really tried to return the gesture," it appeared even as Bakura tied the laces of his trainers, one leg balanced carefully over the other, he was beginning to tire of this argument, however, seemed reluctant to be deemed the loser either.

"Why would I want to? As you kindly pointed out earlier, spitting down someone's throat isn't exactly my idea of romance!" Marik watched him with reproach, although now he took a step or two towards the other. Bakura finished with his laces, and got to his feet once again. He began to stroll casually around the room, coming to rest leaning against the window and sweeping it's curtains aside, he tested the hinges that caused it to open.

"What are you doing?" our villain inquired bad-naturedly, advancing on him.

"Would you like to see my escape plan?" the white-haired teen asked, a dangerous glint of mischief twinkling in his dark eyes, and a smile revealing both curved fangs below his upper lip.

"What is it? Jumping out the-" unfortunately Bakura seized him roughly around the middle before he could choke out the last of his sentence, and with inhuman strength, lifted him clear off his feet, into a bridal-style embrace.

"What are you-!" he could feel the soothing aroma of night air caressing his darkened skin, the chilling bite it provided tugging at his clothes as he was swung towards a paling moon. The whole feeling of having no say over where he was being transported, being completely at another's mercy was not a pleasant thing for our poor villain whatsoever.

"See you on the ground, Marik!" called the devious spirit of the ring, stealing his arms from beneath him without warning, causing our villain to drop forcefully to the grass below-which thankfully rushed up to embrace him quickly, as they were only on the ground floor.

Reeling with the realisation he'd just been tossed out a window by someone who was so weak they couldn't dress themselves, he searched the abandoned window above. He was about to start roaring back up, when he saw the ghostly shadow of Bakura in silouette against the curtains, tear the tube connecting him to the drip viciously from his own arm. Next second he returned, to leer down at him through the open window.

"Have a safe landing?" he asked sarcastically, before climbing feline-like onto the windowsill himself, crouched like a human demon; framed in his pale mane, which was stained an unholy white in the moon's illumination.

"What sort of fruit basket would-!" started Marik in his loud voice, but was unfortunately forced to roll off to one side, still clutching the millennium rod when his friend leapt out into the night, landing on all fours, exactly where our villain had been lying moments before. His back pounded in distress although his shoulder had taken the brunt of the rough landing.

"Did you just throw me out of a freaking window?!" he gasped from where he lay, the ticking scent of wet grass enveloping him. It appeared that the window had opened up onto a green to the front of the busy hospital, and there were a steady stream of ambulances making their way in and out of the enormous gates opening to admit them. Plenty of pairs of eyes to see them if they weren't careful.

"Yes, well at least we're free from that now." Bakura straightened up, his demonically beautiful features sharp in the moonlight.

"I still need to get that dual disc," he reminded our shaken villain, who remained un-moving.

"Where do you expect to get one at this hour of the morning?" Marik frowned, rubbing his exposed lower back as he finally got to his own feet, no hand extended to come to his aid. No duelist would be out this late, surely?

"Say, Marik, want to go on a little _date_?"

**A/n: Bakura-san! You threw Marik out a window! O.o  
But now I have it all set up, and ready to roll for the second part of this scene****! If you noticed there, Marik isn't happy being the Uke. Poor soul. I'm all for him finding some way into being the seme, who agrees with me? Since Seiri's writing this, anything is possible, i suppose! oh yeah, I also feel the need to explain I'm going on the fact that in the anime they really didn't notice the difference between Hikaris and their Yamis, Marik sees someone almost like Ryou all the time, just a little more demonic. ^_^ sorry. Just had to make that crystal-clear. **

**And if you like this story and haven't reviewed yet, let's hear what you think! Come on! *does puppy-eyes* And if you have, then please don't kill me for the mix-up *hides behind 'Kura-sama* kill him instead, seeing as he's already dead!! But tell me what you think of this chapter, before you do that!**


	5. Chpt 4 Until in lust do we part

**A/n: Oh I'm so sorry for leaving this a week! I have been unbelievably busy and this just ended up becoming as hell-long as the other part... I did put the make out scene in here at the very end... It's fairly steep. Steeper than i first meant. So sorry if anyone's offended by the boyXboy thing- but what in the name of german alternative rock group Falco are you doing here if that's the case????  
Right, here we go! This is the one you're all waiting one so without further ado, Seiri presents: Chapter 4, the second half of the last one- until in lust do we part!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the stuff in Yugioh.. but i think you all know that. hell, i don't even own the phrase german alternative rock group falco, it was from little kuriboh's abridged series.. :P**

**Chapter 4- Until in Lust do we part **

"A date? Are you trying to be funny?"

Dates, Marik knew, were a way a man could woo a woman whom he liked, in a special way. Technically since they were both male, that couldn't possibly be the word for it, surely?

"Quickly…there's a man getting out of that ambulance who might see us! …Marik!" the latter was still gaping at his associate, confused.

"Marik!"

The dainty white-haired teen was halfway through an attempt to sprint towards the fence which caged the perimeter of the hospital, but had noticed our villain standing confused, rubbing the small of his back from the fall still close to the window. Glancing towards the vehicle in question lying silent on the drive, Marik noticed Bakura was right-he was plainly in sight had the man donned in luminous jacket and hauling a stretcher from it's depths happened to cast an eye in their direction. Thankfully, he was too enthralled by the patient's removal, and Marik finally abandoned his struck rabbit pose, taking a light two-step skip in Bakura's direction.

"Come on!" he called impatiently, reaching the fence. A small area of forest surrounded this side of the hospital, the leering shadows of a raucous raven or two casting flickers as they squawked overhead. The cold mesh provided a prison-like view of the parting of the trees, revealing a thick smog of darkness beyond. There was a pale moon overhead, and what little light it happened to shed seemed to be all attracted to stick to Bakura- a deity of such beauty in the dullness Marik could never admit it was a wondrous sight to behold. The millennium ring repelled the slick glimmer of brightness, it's cool metallic surface catching our little villain's eye.

"What's taking you so long?" Bakura stood with two long fingers entwined through the wire, a hand on his hip.

"Well excuse me!" Our villain slowed as he approached, not daring to cast a glance back in case they were uncovered. "…How do you plan on getting over here? That fence is like six feet high!" he pointed out unhelpfully once he was sure he wouldn't be heard.

The spirit of the ring frowned darkly, his chocolate eyes darkened.

"Do you desire me to _carry_ you over this mere obstacle as well, or can you use your legs this time?" he asked, in a vinegary growl.

"Carry? It seemed a lot more like you just tossed me out of a window," our villain muttered, watching in disbelief as the demonic angel climbed nimbly to the pole crowning the fence, with little effort. Perched on it's thin surface on all fours, he shot Marik an indescribable glance before dropping noiselessly to the rustling leaves pooling below to cushion his landing. Straightening up the other side, he put a hand to the mesh.

"Come on, we don't have all night," he prompted, one half of his handsome face bathed with darkness, the jagged mane creating wicked symmetrical shadows across his pale skin.

Marik scowled; much as he disliked taking orders from someone, he disliked embarrassing himself before someone else even more than that.

"Fine, I'm going!" The metal was as brittle and cool as the soul bared through the swirling heated chocolate gaze of Bakura, and even as he inserted the toe of one black boot though the gauze, he could not rip his own eyes from the moon-lit figure the other side. With minimal effort, he thrust a leg across the pole across it's tip, and almost expected Bakura to rush forward to sweep him into his arms, but the truth would have been more gory had he not have been simply leaping forward to hurry our young little villain.

"Hurry!" the other teen hissed again, the leaves floundering around with the movement of the air current he'd made in his descent.

"Bakura?"

"What?"

"Shut up." A stray cloud on a leash of cold air, dripped down the sky, momentarily obscuring the only light source. The millennium rod hung slackly from Marik's belt-hook, and he had the notion of using it to illuminate the forest, as they trudged side-by-side towards the darkness.

"What's wrong, Marik?" asked the silver-haired spirit, his head cocked sideways. "Do you not like being in a pitch-black forest in the small hours of the morning with me?"

"I can think of better places to be right now," The leering branches reached out dangerously swallowing them whole, the pungent aroma of wet vegetation staining the night air. Feathery ferns sprung from under each of their steps, small miscellaneous plants clamouring for recognition, only to be trodden on.

"Do you even know where you're going?" asked Marik, after a few minutes of dodging branches and keeping out of threatening clouds of shadows. The treetops did not permit any light to filter down to the forest floor, so it took these few minutes for our villain's eyes to adjust to the light(Or lack thereof). When he glanced back at the shadowy outline of Bakura, he almost expected the spirit's eyes to be shining like some sort of demonic cat, but they were still plush, velvety hazel in the half-light.

"Of course I know where I'm going! ..But who says we have to be going _anywhere_?" he came to a halt, the light blue jacket he wore hanging open, and fluttering slightly in the evening air. There was a sparkle Marik couldn't translate into words dancing like fireflies in the centre of his eyes, captivating him.

"What do you mean?" The last thing he was looking for now was to be assaulted by this silverette spirit, arms folded in a defiant gesture. He took another step towards Marik, closing the distance between them.

"Nobody can see us here…" he was grinning, leering down in the poor light, his pale face as beautiful as he'd ever seen it.

"And what?" Marik was sure he'd not like the answer about to be given.

"And so we can carry on with what we were doing earlier," our villain hadn't even time to ask what that had been, had his memory failed him at this time, before Bakura swept down with one arm already snaking across his back, and their lips crashed together. The spirit was insistent, while embracing him with one arm, he entwined his other in our villain's long creamy blonde hair, forcing them closer. Even if he wanted to(Which he actually did) he couldn't fight off the white-haired teen. It appeared any injuries he may have been kept in hospital for were no longer restricting him, as if he felt no pain. (Marik did; this kiss was beginning to cause his lips to go numb).

Just when he was sure nothing could be worse, a jackdaw came hollering down from a nearby bush, which made him jump so violently his associate took the cue to insert a tongue between the other's lips. In one way this was a slight improvement since the cool sensation of blood rushing back into them brought feeling with it, but this was the first time Bakura had expected him to partake in any sort of open-mouthed kiss…

When he made an unconvincing growl in his throat, the other's movement only became more pronounced. Both Bakura's arms were locked around Marik, his head bowed in concentration, and mane cascading around him, enveloping him like a white waterfall. The smell of cinnamon and honey wafted from somewhere, it took a couple of seconds for our villain to realise it was coming faintly from the other teenager.

Some feeling Marik was very unaccustomed to erupted from inside him; it felt like liquid lightning ran through his veins, and the pain slowly worsened with every movement Bakura made with his tongue. When it appeared he would not be allowed to go unless he made some effort to match the other, and that he would not be allowed to breathe either, that was the cue for a plan of action, and he finally embraced the other. Every move Bakura made, he tried to match, and soon it became a battle for supremacy, for who could hold the top spot the longest. And with every stroke, every bit of contact, the mystery pain of hormones he was unaccustomed to dulled out his ability to care what it was they were doing. Somewhere down this line of discovery, Marik encountered one of the animalistic fangs- unfortunately establishing their authenticity when their smooth pearly surface almost slashed him. So they were real…?

_Why do people do this, anyway_, our villain wondered, dully, _when it's completely disgusting_? But whatever it was, this new 'game' enthralled them for the next half a minute, until Bakura finally drew apart for air, without haste, despite the length of time he'd held his breath for. And as he slowly drew away, he seemed not to care that a thick rope of saliva still connected them. There was an emotion Marik had never before seen in his eyes; a drunken mixture of hot amusement, swirling lust and something maybe bordering on _kindness_.

"That was your first kiss, wasn't it?" asked the demonic teenager darkly, bearing one of the fangs which had almost slashed the side of Marik's tongue only a few seconds ago. The swirling heat between them had not yet died; that feeling our villain had had come over him with this kiss was still pulsing dully from within, too. Neither had moved and he was only staring, a little like a wondrous child, (he was embarrassed to admit,) into the other's upturned face.

"How do you figure?"

"You're not very confident,"

"There's a big difference between confidence and quality- and you're not exactly very good at it!" Shouted Marik, shattering the silence, the mood, _and _displacing a flock of squawking birds from a nearby tree.

"How would you come to that conclusion?" Bakura's voice was as toxic as poison, icy and throaty, when he finally replied. Neither broke the salivary bond, it still hung cold and sticky between them, even as they spoke. (Since this conversation took place cosily within two inches of each other.)

"You can't just spit down people's throats and call it 'romance'! It's clearly unhygienic!" he stormed, scowling. In truth his mouth was still tingling from the vigorous movements, and the mystery wave of hormones which engulfed him was all but a memory. A nice memory, but a memory none-the-less.

"I didn't hear you complaining a minute ago," he answered, still dangerously close, his arms securely pinning him against his stripy t-shirt.

"No, that was because you were attempting to choke me!"

With a bad-natured snort, Bakura ripped apart the arched bond of enzymes and released him, leaving a cold wet sensation down Marik's chin and the hot ambience they had surrounded each other in evaporated, leaving nothing but the cool night breeze which rustled the leaves all around them noisily.

"….Come on, let's go." he growled. It appeared that Marik had destroyed what little good mood had suddenly come over his demonic friend.

"Go where? I thought you said you were going nowhere!" he shouted after him, not fancying being left standing alone in the dark.. Having said that he was also quite glad the latest show of affection from his strange associate was over… they happened dangerously unpredictable as of late.

Bakura continued to stalk through the trees for almost another quarter of an hour, the silent villain following close, but not so much so that his 'friend' came within grabbing distance of him. After this time, the slight haunting of drizzle was descending, with little promise of release from the vegetation.

"It's raining," Marik stated obviously, catching up and daring to walk shoulder to shoulder with the spirit.

"Would you care to inform me of something less obvious?" replied his company, roughly.. Sarcastically..

Marik simply scowled, he disliked heavy rain but was not going to complain; where he came from a little rain was not the worst thing that could happen to a place. Try a sandstorm, or locust plague. No, he thought while staring into the branches above and jets of blotchy night sky, drizzle was actually quite _nice_.

"Are you lost?" he asked his tone condescending, another minute later- becoming increasingly bored by the unchanging surroundings, and of the non-existent conversation between them.

"If I was, I wouldn't be able to tell you there's a nice _romantic_ graveyard through here I was leading you to." replied Bakura, his voice as perpetually dry as ever. He did not halt, or turn around to top it all off.

"Romantic? How is a graveyard romantic, may I ask?" Marik wondered aloud, still not liking his associate's tone- or the latest movements he'd been engaging in. The random kiss out of nowhere- it was sort of _serious_..

"What do you mean 'how is it romantic'? We'll be there any minute now, so at least show some sort of respect," he scowled back- and Marik could indeed make out the slight glimmer ahead, signalling the forest would let up at some point. When this had hollowed to a parting of two large conifers, Bakura came to a dead halt.

"Why are you stopping?"

"How about you go on.. ahead," said Marik's companion, his face obscured by his long white mane and warped by darkness.

"What? What do you mean? I'm not walking through a graveyard alone! I mean I don't even know where I am!" he yelled back, but still the spirit did not move.

"Are you scared, Marik?"

"No, I'm not scared you fool! What's so important now that you've decided to ditch me?"

"Nature calls," he answered casually, still not revealing the two pools of hazel which would give away his true intentions.

"Why could you not have gone before we left the hospital?" Marik yelled back, unbelieving. He sure did pick his moments, didn't he? A cloud obscured the moon momentarily, and a faint gleam rose from the metal of the millennium ring around the other's neck. He turned and in two bounds cleared the treeline, back into the depths of the forest.

"Wait! Where are you going?" something dawned on Marik, he had the sinking feeling that the spirit was not telling the whole truth, if any at all. To be left alone in an open field lined with ancient rocks was not ideal, especially when your company was not even trustworthy. Or was he….?

When Bakura reached a large, hollow oak he stopped, in the way one does when he knew our villain was right behind him and had no desire to face him. He still remained motionless, the cool breeze playing gently through his light-coloured hair.

"Are you going, or do you wish to stay and watch me?" Bakura asked sourly, finally turned to reveal his haunting face with a dark filthy glare set on his porcelain features. There was nothing there to suggest he was faking.. But still…

"No I don't want to watch! How long will you be?" our villain still was getting strange vibes.. Like Bakura was escaping to secretly transform into a werewolf, or something… it was spooky, whatever it was.

"Oh, you know… whatever normal amount of time it takes for a guy to piss," he growled sarcastically, as if Marik had stirred thousands of years of rage from beneath his surface. Bakura shunned him with his back again, so the only right thing our villain was left to do was to walk aimlessly away, towards the drizzly light beckoning their release from the woods.

It parted welcomingly to a long patch of grass, scattered stones lying equal distances from each other for as far as the eye could reach. The masses of graves appeared to be enclosed on most sides by trees and vegetation, for somewhere across the sea of spotted grass was a darker line of green, rising elegantly into the sky to join the wispy clouds.

The aura this place gave off mirrored that of Bakura- he felt at complete unease, especially after being ditched like that. Not that Marik Ishtar was actually _afraid_ of anything… if anything was unfortunate enough to spook him, even a _little _at this moment, he would not hesitate to rip out his rod and let them spook someone else.. from the shadow realm..!

A crow took flight from nearby, chattering raucously between wing beats and almost clipping Marik around the head- showering him with feathers.

"Stupid birds!" he yelled after it, his loud voice echoing unhelpfully around the open expanse of land. The graves loomed weirdly at him like jagged teeth in the moonlight, their messages obliterated under the cruel grinding of time. Some were the symmetrical shape of toast slices, other were statuettes of religious figures on podiums, frowning down from fifteen feet above at our villain as he wandered pointlessly. He didn't know much about religions- it seemed that they governed the lives of other people, dictating what they could and couldn't do- it even made them fight mindlessly with others who didn't believe what they did… if Marik did have a religion, then being a tomb-keeper was it. The great force that prevented him from achieving anything that he wanted to, and confining him to the dungeons of the pharaoh's tomb…! But no longer.

…Where _had_ Bakura gone? It was almost five minutes ago he started walking, and he had the increasing suspicion that someone or something was stalking him from behind some of the graves. The drizzle was also becoming increasingly heavy, and our villain could feel drops of it running down the small of his back, beneath his soaked white jacket which did not help to improve his mood.

It was almost visible- a figure slowly crawling into view through the graveyard towards our villain, and he squinted his pale eyes to try and distinguish who or what the figure was of. But unfortunately his attention was diverted back to one of the closest statues to him, a pair of glowing, disembodied eyes drifting oddly from between the figure's arm and torso. Marik slowly got the impression of a climbing lizard, clinging to it's back and staring through the badly-lit air at him. He leapt towards it, unafraid but they simply blinked and were gone. Upon rounding the huge stone person, the only living thing he could account for apart from himself was the figure approaching- there was simply nothing there which could have owned the eyes.

His first thought was of Bakura playing tricks on him, but surely he'd have noticed the silverette making his way out of the vegetation if this was the case? He glanced momentarily at the approaching figure, a small dreary lump wrapped in something dark, ambling against the chill of the sweet rain. Was it anyone Marik would know?

Eventually ignoring the stares from invisible eyes behind certain graves, his only other companion in this wasteland of grass revealed himself to be none other than….

"Odeon!" Boy was Marik glad to see him, someone he knew he'd be safe with, not only half-guessing whether it was like with Bakura.

"Master! What are you doing here?" called his servant, the dripping navy cloak whipping around his ankles in the chilly wet air. Our villain realised he was quite soaked by now.

"I could ask you the same thing. I'm holding up my end of a bargain with a friend," he told him, the distance closed between them until no longer must voices to be raised to converse.

"Ah.. That kid you hit…" Odeon guessed accurately, a glint of something bordering on appreciation twinkling in his dark eyes.

"And what…? Have you got the extra locator cards yet?"

"Umm… not all of them, master. I am on my way to oversee that the rare hunters have secured the last two," he cleared his throat as he began, realising his little master would predictably choose to be hormonal over his new friend. As long as our little villain was happy, then so was his closest servant- although Marik never seemed to notice this.

"Well do that, then." the little ungrateful teenager turned to try and locate his white-haired associate whom had disappeared almost over ten minutes ago now, but before he'd turned a full one-eighty, something snaked around his waist, restricting him.

Two arms pulled him closer, and a wet kiss was planted at the base of his cheek.

"What are you _doing_, Bakura! I would say did you flush yourself into the sewers, but trees don't have flushers last time I checked!" cried our flustered young bronze, struggling wildly against Bakura's weight pressing into his back.

"Mmmh, hello to you too," he glanced up while restraining the other, digging his chin into Marik's shoulder to behold Odeon whose expression was expertly concealed.

"What are you two doing out here at this hour?" the servant asked, addressing the demonic angel baring a curved canine tooth this time. Our villain struggled again, but Bakura's grip was as deathly as their earlier kiss.

"Oh, you know. Just thought I'd take Marik here for a little …._how's-your-father_ in the cemetery," the spirit of the ring grinned back, causing Odeon to sweatdrop. Marik was none too pleased, to say the least.

"What are you talking about, how's my father? Quite frankly I don't care how he is you fool, and secondly- we'll have a hard time finding him in a graveyard when he's in the shadow realm!" raged our little bronze friend, finally tearing his way from Bakura's arms. "If that was the purpose of taking me here, you're wasting your time!"

Odeon continued to sweatdrop, now joined by the handsome dark-eyed spirit behind Marik.

" …Yeah.. Sure…" he muttered, although Marik was now so worked up he failed to hear.

"Well, I suggest I move on. I'll see you later, master- as soon as I have got what you require." The servant swished hurriedly past the two, not wanting to intrude any longer as he'd obviously done- only stopping to add innocently as he went- "Oh, and have fun!"

"Fun? What fun am I to have with this useless-mmph!" Bakura launched himself on our little villain, using a rough kiss to shut him up.

"Shall we carry on, ourselves?" he inquired huskily as he drew away, "Because if we want to be in.. position.. by two then we'll have to hurry,"

"What position? Where are you taking me? I thought this was it!" the spirit let him towards the opposite trees, vaulting a rotting gravestone effortlessly.

"We're going to pay someone a little visit," he grinned, a caramel flash of humour from his warm hazel eyes.

The forest on the opposite side was disappointingly as identical to the other as Siamese twins, sodden leaves refusing to crunch as they mingled with pine needles beneath their feet, the unclean stench of tree sap in the night air. Although the weather was not very cold, it was still spitting rain and Marik was soaked right through every layer of clothing, resulting in small shivers claiming him every now and again.

"What on earth was that back there?" he eventually asked when Bakura seemed reluctant to make conversation. His companion did not acknowledge him for several minutes, but skulked on in silence.

"…Marik, do you know what 'sex' is?" he asked crudely a while later, turning sharply and coming to a halt.

"What? Of course I know what sex it! Why are you asking me that?!" roared back our villain, now embarrassed as well as enraged. This was surely the oddest time to be trying to give him er… that type of _education…_ wasn't it?

"…No reason." the trees bowed to defeat not long after he continued walking, thoroughly bewildered by his associate's behaviour since they left the hospital. He still got the impression it was Bakura who may have owned the disembodied eyes in the cemetery- after all, he _was_ some sort of spirit.

…but since he had to possess the little white-haired sick kid to have a physical form, did that mean every time they kissed, it was really the host he was technically kissing? Marik shivered- that wasn't worth thinking about..

On the other side of this stretch of trees, was a main road, which kindly spewed the two out into it's middle, the second they were free from it's ensnaring shadows. This river of tar separated the trees from a sort of factory, a colourless shell of cement supporting towering pillars of steaming chimneys. Another six-foot wire mesh enclosed it, this time crowned by metal thorns. It appeared even at this late hour they were expecting thieves to plunder them.

"Hmm… this place is more desolate than I remember it…" the spirit cocked his head sideways and lifted two hands to his hips, deciding the best way to get the two of them in without injury.

"Why are we here?" asked Marik as he quickly crossed the road. Even though it was as lifeless as the factory appeared to be, he did not care to be the victim of another freak road accident.

"Ah.. I see they left a gate open.. Perhaps the early shipment hasn't left yet…" was all the spirit replied, pacing around to the other striped side of the factory, a hidden gate open amongst the vertical strips of metal to admit them.

"What is this place?" Marik asked, in hot pursuit. When they rounded the tip of the gate, a cargo truck was parked oddly, the motor running in the moonlight.

"Sssh. We'll clear that vehicle and see what the owner's left out for us to take, tonight…" The spirit's dark eyes glittered weirdly under the haunting moonshine, like two faraway stars visible through the Hubble telescope.

"What do you plan to steal?"

"Anything that could be of use to us," The two skulked quietly through the shadows, until the huge shuddering vehicle was upon them, and the storage area of the factory (which was like a corrugated iron garage) packed to overflow with large crates in the process of being moved into the truck. It was odd- there were no other people around, no sound of falling footsteps or exhaled breath.

Where was everyone?

The inside of the factory store room was even more cluttered than the outside- large medium and small crates of all shades of wooden exterior littered the square room, stacked in pillars reaching hospitably into the roof. There could have been nearly anything in the boxes.

A spotlight from somewhere in this room illuminated the dull night, blinding Marik's eyes, which were only just adjusting to the lack of light outside. The spirit's, he could see as they sat hunched on their haunches behind a three-foot box, were narrowed in concentration and pain. The twinkle of auburn-hazel swam in and out of focus, taking vital plans of the layout- even though Marik got the impression he came here quite often and was confident of his surroundings.

"What is this place?" asked our villain again, but only received a frantic hiss for silence. The tail of this noise echoed noisily from the rafters, almost as if some enraged bee had broken out of a leaking gas pipe.

"You check those boxes over there. You'll know if you find what I'm looking for," the moon-tainted mane of his friend hung low, obscuring his face momentarily, a dark ravenous taint to his deep snarl which protected it from the inhuman echoes this building was capable of producing.

"Fine, but I have no idea what your plan is!" still perturbed by the lack of human activity, Marik dashed across the room to an open crate, foam filling frothing out. It appeared almost too calm, like a trap, he contemplated while rifling noisily through the foam 's' shapes- seemingly this crate was in the process of being packed. Near the bottom he extracted some sort of handheld computer from where it was embedded loosely in the filling. A computer…?

"There's nothing here except computer parts!" he hissed back, to the nimble silverette who was perched cat-like on the rim of one of the higher-stacked boxes, rifling though it's contents as if he was as content to do this as anything else he appeared to enjoy doing. He glanced up as Marik attempted to replace the lid of his own, causing a groan of splinters and a crackling fizzle which echoed wildly around the room.

"Marik! Shut up!" he hissed, but the echo would not let his words die either. Another noise erupted from behind the partition, heralding another human presence entering their midst.

"See what you've done?" he asked greyly as he vaulted to the ground, landing gracefully on one knee and wasting no time in straightening. In fact, no sooner had he made contact with the muddy ground, than he leapt awkwardly for the door. Marik, contemplating extracting his rod ran after him, dropping the expensive-looking computer hastily. The footsteps became almost tangible, they were so loud as the spirit and our villain skidded to a halt by the open van.

"We won't be able to make it out the yard without being spotted!" Bakura hissed, grabbing a handful of Marik's short white jacket and attempting to drag him back in.

"What are you doing, you fool! Why don't you simply send whoever it is to the shadows, and have done with them?" he retorted, feeling remotely like an animal on a leash beneath the spirit's grip of steel. The ring gleamed evilly around his neck, but still he was contented to hurry back towards the person/people who were approaching.

"No! If you haven't noticed, I'm trying to listen in on a phone call with my millenium ring, which you're not making easy!" the spirit grumbled back, almost lifting Marik off his feet. "Plus it depends who they're working for, they could be of use to us,"

"And how is that?"

There was a distasteful pause, before his associate frowned deeply at him, head inclined slightly to the side.

"I'm simply acquiring a duel disk- the old-fashioned way. What's wrong? Don't you want to spend time with me?" he grinned through the concentration, peeping back into the store-room. Three men were piling boxes onto a trolley, too busy to momentarily notice the stark white mane of the spirit, or indeed our lightly-dressed villain in the mouth of the entrance.

"In here!"

One of the men was indeed on the phone, something not visible held cupped to his ear as he roared jovially into it.

"There's a concert there on the twenty-first, isn't there?" he was booming to the receiver of the call, and so did not notice the two slim figures leaping awkwardly into his over-full truck.

Marik collapsed with his back against the side of a wooden box, wedged between the very side of the truck and the barrage of crates. Thankfully there was no lack of foot space- there was another crate blocking the view of outside through the open doors, but apart from that, he could easily slip back outside had he needed to. Lying there with the faint rocking of the purring vehicle against his back, he stretched out, extracting the rod at his belt which by this time the shaft was digging uncomfortably into his backside and wondered briefly where Bakura had managed to find a place to hide.

Not only had he finished wondering, when a familiar handsome face appeared over the top of the highest crate, it's owner hunched flat over it's surface.

"Get down before someone sees you!" he hissed at the glimmering hazel pools staring at him.

"As you wish," with minimal care to avoid displacing the top crates, he dropped legs-first on top of Marik, crouched dog-like as he positioned himself.

"What are you doing!" he protested loudly, almost forgetting about the faint voices of the workmen. He hoped to goodness they would leave soon so that he could get out from under Bakura. This set-up caused uneasiness, however he decided it would certainly not be so had the order been reversed…

"Shut up!" Bakura hissed back, dangerously close to his ear, lying comfortably across Marik's chest. His expression was unchanged, one of concentration, but yet this did not help to calm our villain any. He felt very strange- very embarrassed.

The men returned together, and to his horror, the door of the truck was heaved closed, the little scrap of night sky visible to Marik disappeared and was replaced by white metal. The darkness descended on them, he could feel Bakura's breath against his neck, hot and damp, and smell the thinly dispersed honey and cinnamon emanating from Bakura, not to mention the tickle of his long mane against his face. Neither would move, paralysed in fear of being caught but Marik had almost lost all feeling in his left leg, which Bakura's weight was positioned firmly against. The swirling darkness parted as both chocolate and aqua retinas adjusted to the change in light.

"What are you doing? I can't feel my leg!" he protested to the teenager on top of him. His voice barely reached the top of the crates.

"I have an idea,"

"Do you?"

"Look, do this.." Before Marik knew what he was doing, Bakura had curled three pale fingers around the crook of his knee, parting it further to make a hollow that would take the spirit's weight. Then he rolled sideways between them, releasing the other trapped leg and hitched the one in his grasp towards Marik's neck.

"Any better?" he asked, sarcastically. Our villain knew without having to search it out in the dark that his rod lay to one side, which he desired to grab in order to club the chocolate-eyed beauty over the head with, dangerously aware he was now lying comfortably between his legs. And what with the constant downward shudder of the engine, it was beginning to stir his hormones in a completely undesirable way…

"Get off me!" he hissed back, the heat of the other's breath still lightly caressing his neck. A soft kiss was planted on his collarbone.

"Shhhhhhh….."

He could feel the gentle movement of Bakura's abdomen, moving slowly against him with each breath, a heated cocktail of raging hormones he had only really read about surging through him. If he wasn't careful and removed himself from this situation soon, it was very possible the other teen would _feel _his urge.

The engine roared into life, a fresh shudder rippling through Marik's back and causing him to yelp.

"We're locked in! Bakura! Where is this thing going?" he gasped, pushing hard against the other's chest to make him get up.

"Does it matter?" asked his associate licking his lip, eyes two twisted pools of mystery.

"Yes.. I thought you wanted to go somewhere! How are we to go anywhere while trapped in here?"

"Does second base sound far enough?" The van turned left; out into the road, causing Bakura to push even harder against him.

"What are you on about? Let me up!" he roared, his voice much louder than he meant it to be, but it still did not deter the spirit of the millennium ring at all. His heart was beating with more strength than it had in the graveyard, his mouth was dry…

"Did you know it's even more dangerous (and fun) to make love in a moving vehicle?" Bakura asked between kisses, which he layered seductively across our villain's collarbone.

"Have you done it before?" Marik inquired, holding back another cry as the engine shuddered in a burst of speed, jolting Bakura's teenage weight firmly between his legs.

"More importantly," one delicate kiss on the lips that our villain allowed later, "Do you want to try it?"

The vibration of the engine against his back, the dewy fragrance of honey dulling his senses, and the biting rush of hormones fuelling a young erection threatening to become noticeable all called for a positive response, but as he returned another surprisingly gentle kiss, he shook his head alertly. Common sense had not been run down this time.

"Bakura, you're a _guy_!" he gasped. The other was in the process of hooking our villain's knee over his shoulder one-handed, the other gently massaging our villain's inner thigh, just above his knee.

"I'm glad we established that before we go any further," scowled back a shiny-eyed demon sarcastically, a dark snarl right into Marik's ear which aroused him even further. The heat was like a noose, slowly choking him into submission. Perhaps he'd never wanted something so bad in his spoilt little existence-but what it was exactly eluded him. Although with every jolt and hum of the van's engine, it made him a little more accepting of this feeling- it seemed the mystery fire burning his veins had returned with a vengeance, he was not happy being here on his back. Had Bakura of been beneath _him_…

"That's not what I mean," he suddenly gasped, Bakura still massaging his leg in small circles, slowly moving higher up with each stroke.

"Oh?"

"I mean… I don't like…"

"This?" Bakura seized Marik's wrist and forced it against his crotch- against the stiff material further strengthened by the hardness between his own legs.

"Ba….kura!" he'd never felt anything like it- never before had this sort of contact with anyone, never mind another male. He'd only read about this sort of thing in books… but still he was not comfortable here. He wanted to dominate this demonic beauty himself- not the other way around, that would be just…wrong?

"No.. You're…you're..."

"Hard?"

Pause.

"No- well yes.. But.. No.."

"Ready to get undressed?"

"Please don't."

"About to strip you?"

"I should hope not!"

"…Seriously horny?"

"Shut up, Bakura! I don't like being underneath, dammit!" the words tumbled from his mouth before he could stop them, and as they froze, staring into one another's eyes- Marik's leg bent over Bakura's broad shoulder, the van gave a huge jolt as the acceleration died… it must have come to traffic lights.

Needless to say it gave another final thrust forward, pushing the dominating teen against the increasing hardness between our villain's own legs, parted uncomfortably wide.. Marik unconvincingly disguised a moan as clearing his throat, blood throbbing at his temples.. Even Bakura let out a little gasp, his head fell forward in concentration to hold back, and he rested it against the cool chains closing our villain's jacket as he bit the protruding collar bone gently.

"Bakura.. I'm warning you…" Marik gasped back, entangling a hand through a large portion of the sleek white mane descending around the other's shoulders until he had a good handful, originally meaning to haul his proud head from our villain's chest- but he could not muster the strength.

"Warning me how?" he responded, propping Marik with one arm, which was inserted down the back of his short white jacket… firmly massaging the bronze skin beneath.. expertly across his backbone, so that he subconsciously stiffened it…

He did not want to admit that this felt way better than anything he'd ever done… Despite they were still soaked from earlier but it seemed neither particularly cared any more...  
it was way better than Bakura's erotic open mouthed kisses, anyway… but still sense was calling for it to halt…

"Are you ready?" asked the familiar slightly British growl of Bakura, twisted now in a dull slur of lust, greed and disregard. His fingers were buried beneath the back of Marik's dark trousers, his body tense and hot in anticipation.

"For what?" Marik could barely think anymore, it felt like he was mentally drowning...

"For me to steal something from you, that you'll never get back…."

**A/n: AHHGH! Kinky Kura me brain overload!!! ..........aw, he's so horny..( ^_____^)  
Okay, finals start in about two chapters (I think) and if that was a little much... sorry.. there's probably more to come.. geddit? XD allright, Seiri calm down... anyway, the next chappy'll be up soon, which is what happens after this..  
Now don't forget to review.. that was my first make-out scene here and i'd love to hear from all my readers.. (Even though that's almost impossible) to commemorate that, and for the feedback. You likey? You no likey? Seiri wants to know!  
(And if you want to see more, I don't mind hearing from you either...) by the way...No flames! I warned at the intro! **


	6. Chpt 5 The road less travelled

**A/n: Yay! I got this finished by friday! Happy easter everyone, this'll be my last update before the holiday. (But for anyone who reads my poetry corner, i should have one up easter morning!) and welcome to the new reviewers, I'm overjoyed you decided to join us on this little tale of theifshipping...**

**Anyway, Just thought I'd warn you. This chapter is random and almost completely a filler... that's why it's a little short...and I laughed a lot while writing it, which may mean you'll think it's funny. lol. Or you might not, depending on your sense of laughing beans. I laugh a lot anyway, so I'm afraid I'm not to be the judge of it... ****And contrary to where I left off and continue to write from, there'll be no citrus-ey type of fruits in this chapter, I'm saving that for future ones, so fans of lemon, never fear! Okay, enjoy this, hopefully as much as Seiri did writing it!**

**Disclaimer: You know _hopefully_ by now that I don't own Yugioh, I actually barely own this computer. XD**

**chpt 5- The road less travelled**

The vehicle's engines roared back to life, although the two occupants in the back of it almost hadn't noticed. I say almost, since the forward motion caused a certain white-haired teenager to rub hips with the blond villain lying beneath him unexpectedly.

"Bakura… please.."

"It's better.. isn't it? In a moving vehicle?" inquired the other, a slight tremor Marik could feel run through his abdomen as he bent towards him for another chafe kiss.

"How is that supposed to be?"

Proverbial fog clouding his head, leg still bent across the light blue shoulder and breathing shallow, our villain barely was able to watch Bakura. If only they could swap positions… then perhaps he'd (ahem) hurry things up a bit!

"Because… the van determines the movements I make.. I can't stop.. can't go on but for the engine's motion…" he grinned, demonically back. He _himself_ almost appeared possessed, a lucid glimmer dancing through his unfocused mocha gaze as he lay heavily across his chest.

"Bakura…" barely discernable were the two from each other, two figures intertwined in the dripping dark of their constraints.

"Bakura I wasn't joking…"

"You'll get to like that position, Marik, just let your pride go for once, can't you?" asked the pale spirit, arching his back against the motion of the truck, so that his hips dragged heavily across our villain's once again.

"Easy for you to say," he gasped, freshening his grip of silken soft mane,

"We'd see how you take to it once I manage to overpower _you_!"

The spirit chuckled dryly.

"What makes you think that'll ever happen?"

Bakura resisted another hesitant push, and the next attack he received from the millennium rod, slamming his hips down against the other. With a gasp, Marik, still managing to be feisty, finally dropped the rod to one side. It hit the van's floor with a clunk, and rolled downwards toward Bakura's knee.

"So… a fight is what you want?" the demon hauled him further towards him until his back was no longer touching the floor, one hand buried up the back of his jacket, the other halfway down his pants. It was almost like being trapped in a glass bubble, Marik happened to muse, both the teen's movements almost independent to the engine's vibrations now.

"A fight.." it sounded strange; this may have been because it was effort to remember who he was, let alone put what he was doing into context. His free hand travelled up the stray length of the striped t-shirt Bakura was donned in.

Hot, perfectly smooth, damp skin met his fingertips, a sea of muscle which rippled like a wind-torn flag with each movement. He barely noticed the angelic teen's throaty growl in his ear as he traced the outline of his shoulder blades, down a bumpy spine to the perfectly curved small of his back.

"Marik…" the spirit whispered in a sing-song way, his voice extra-deep and breathing ragged, "Have you noticed that the engine's died?"

He was right, our villain finally realised dimly, although he was much more preoccupied with what the other's hand was doing at the back of his pants.

"What do you want me to do about it…?" he whispered back in his ear, Bakura's head bent across his chest. The only answer he received was the other pushing his weight roughly between his legs, causing him to arch his whole weight into the hazy chocolate-eyed teen as his leg hung over Bakura's shoulder slipping down… dangerously hot blood throbbing in his temples…

"They're coming for us, Marik," Bakura gasped, having to pause at each word, now that they both moved together, "Outside… they'll open the van in.. three.. two…"

"What? Who?"

"We're stowaways, remember?"

"Aw…crap…"

There was a hearty rumble of metal, jovial voices raised outside and the smell of cool evening air a second later. They both froze. Perhaps this was a worse pain, not being able to move?

"Okay.. Keep silent at any cost, understand? And it'll be easier if you just concentrate completely on the pain…"

"What pain- Oh Ra!"

Two perfectly formed fangs sunk into bronze flesh, a vampire-ish glaze to the whole scene.. And still our villain had no choice but to hold the next strangled yell down in his chest, one pain almost cancelling out the other-although they may have just joined forces, it was very difficult to tell… His gaze swam dangerously… no, the only dangerous thing at the moment was how _clothed_ the two were…

"Oi, Jimmy! You left that shoe your dog pinched from Bargain town in there!" guffawed a voice entering the van.

There was no way he could stay silent… Bakura tightened his jaw, his arms still supporting Marik. He must have drawn blood by now…

"What? No way George, you're seeing things!" another answered.

Oh Ra make it stop… Make it all stop…

"Wait… I don't think… that's your dog's toy…" the crate obscuring them was hauled carefully to one side, revealing….

The white mane obscuring his pale face, Bakura raised it very slowly from Marik's neck to meet the two men's gawping stares. It seemed he _had _broken skin, hot blood trickled painfully from the open wound while the remains dripped dramatically from one fang, vampire-like…

For a second nothing happened; everyone present was transfixed- Marik could only gasp for breath and stare with guild and fear mixed in at the two, they were cornered and he could no longer reach the millennium rod. The two men had stricken masks on their faces; they must have thought they'd just discovered a blood thirsty vampire taking a meal in the back of their van… but perhaps the hastily retreating erections visible under tossed clothes would betray their true intentions… Bakura's face was not visible to Marik any more, but he guessed the demonic angel had on one of his most fearsome expressions.. Either that or he'd bolted back to the safety of the millennium ring and left his pathetic host to deal with it…

"Wh…Hey! Who are you?" one of them rediscovered his vocals and pointed scandalised at the two.

"You really don't want to be asking that.." Bakura barked, hunching his shoulders as he crouched beneath them. As soon as he had moved from his nest between Marik's legs, our villain reached tentatively for the rod lying a foot away, it's shaft pointing away from him. His breathing was still rather shallow.

"Why's th..that? You're the one in our van!" the other man gibbered, causing our villain to grin silently to himself. So he had stayed to face the metaphorical music? He must have looked especially spooky considering the stammering…

"Ah yes, but I'm giving you three seconds to reconsider investigating, before I do something about it," the spirit snarled; seemingly speaking through his bared teeth. His back was arched and our villain could almost see the hairs on the back of his neck standing to attention like a pissed- off cat, the two workers falling back in terror.

"We have a right to know what you're doing there!" roared the first man, old, balding and now a vile shade of wan. The second who may have been a son or other relative, extracted a weapon of sorts- it may have been a penknife, but was very small.

"Oh do you?"

The man brandishing the weapon advanced and Marik readied his rod to send them to the shadows.. But Bakura reached quickly for his back pocket, extracting a tan-backed trading card.

_What's he doing with that?_ wondered our villain quickly, as cardboard was never a match for sharp metal in his opinion.

"You want explanations? Go ask my man-eater bug!" he roared, straightening as quick as lightening and brandishing the card at arms-length. The millennium ring flashed blindingly, there was a searing note of noise… and once the light had reduced to an acceptable level, an enormous pointy creature was mounted firmly on the older worker's face.

"Aaaaagh!" he was shrieking, but Bakura, without even caring to explain how the monster on the card had come alive, seized a rough handful of the front of Marik's jacket, hauling him with superhuman strength to his feet. The puncture wound on his neck throbbed angrily, and he felt awkward and drowsy.

"What the hell was that, now?" he asked, attempting to remove the iron grip of the pale teen. Bakura wiped his mouth with the back of his dainty wrist.

"Your blood's very salty," he commented oddly, and taking our villain's hand, attempted to lead him out of the vehicle. The man being attacked by the enormous pincers of the man-eater bug was flailing helplessly while his friend attempted to remove it with the pitiful blade he had, but Marik could tell there was enormous chunks of flesh missing as it was.

Our villain followed Bakura as he leapt out into the night, the rough tarmac offering a crunch of frost from beneath their shoes. When he glanced back at the enormous creature attacking the worker, a blade almost wormed it's way into his face.

"What the hell?" the man attached to this blade was shrieking, his friend now lifeless on the tarmac, and in the process of being digested.

"You again?" the man attempted to throw a punch towards Bakura as he tumbled through the space separating them, but he side- stepped in a very agile manner and the attacker fell awkwardly to the ground by Marik's feet. The air was cool and swirling, a cruel wake-up call from his stupor a second ago, when he'd barely been able to have his brain remember what had been taking place. Because of this, the romp with Bakura was all quite hazy with stray hormones.

The street they had emerged into seemed to be a self-respecting housing estate, with neat sandy-roofed houses lining either side of a quiet suburban road. Flashy cars and picket fences lined many of the drives.

The drizzle had died it appeared in the great heat he and the angelic-like demon had stirred in each other.

"If you haven't finished with my bug, then perhaps you'll try on my swords for size!" another flash of the ring, and three over-sized objects rained down from the parted clouds above them. Marik almost leapt, even though his rod was safely entwined beneath his fingers. However this was most definitely shadow magic, and a strong example at that…

The shapes he saw were indeed sword-like, enormous, black and jagged, with skulls in their shafts- the very night air rushed up to catch them before they descended upon all four figures below, thus freezing them in their tracks. These enormous blades dangled weirdly in the moonlit air for a couple of seconds, as if time had suddenly halted and they would be spared the gory fate of being stabbed.

But they then proceeded to absorb every ounce of moonlight and smutty yellow streetlight into their outline, sucking it up like the end of a strawberry milkshake through a straw until it was so dark Marik could no longer even make out the dappled outline of the person who'd conjured them.

"Come on!" called Bakura's distinctly British snarl from somewhere near him in the darkness. Where exactly, it was quite impossible to pinpoint.

"Hey come back!" yelled the frantic voice of the man with the knife, it appeared by his tone he was so scared he didn't even want his friend's attacker to leave him. (But who'd want to stay in the company of a large insect just freshly snacking on your work buddy?) Marik grinned to himself in the pitch black- they hadn't even left yet, really!

"Marik! Come on!" this time the spirit was taking no chances, and the iron grip of his friend (A/n: I can call them friends now they almost screwed? Right?) seized his wrist roughly and soon he was being led in a random direction.

"Bakura have you any idea where you're going??" yelled our villain, forced along at a pace he was not enjoying being blind for. A curb presented itself a little too hastily, almost causing him to fall flat on his face. But thankfully the demon leading him yanked violently on his wrist and instead of upending on his face, almost had his arm torn off at the shoulder.

"This is no time to be fooling about!" Bakura snarled in warning, panting from the effort of hauling the reluctant evil genius.

"Well excuse me, but you don't have to rip my shoulder out of it's socket!"

"I do if you won't hurry up!"

"Where are we going, anyway? And what was the deal with the shadow magic?" a car alarm was wailing from somewhere nearby, and a lone hound sung his appreciation for their attempt at disturbing the silence. But still the blackness went on, and still Bakura continued- completely invisible even though he was in possession of our villain's arm.

"We're going far away from there, Marik and I'll call off the swords of concealing light once we're out of eyeshot of that pathetic mortal I left alive!" There was a slight tinkle of glass, a scrape of sliding metal and he promptly came to a halt, causing Marik behind to crash into him.

"Ow, you fool! Was it too much trouble to inform me we were stopping?"

"Shut up! We don't want to wake the people dwelling in this house!"

"Did you just break into someone's-mmmph!" A hand found it's way to swallow the next sounds our confused teen was about to utter, clamped unnecessarily tight across his mouth. He struggled deftly, resulting in his knee colliding with another object which was not Bakura in the pure darkness. A tinkle of breaking china ensued.

"Marik!" the hiss was as frantic as it was furious, and so was the kick he received to his shin. Angry tears of pain prickled at the edges of his eyes, and he had nothing more to do than to let his leg throb and hold in the roar of agony he was suppressing, promising to maim his new associate as well as he could once he released him. Speaking of which, his leg dwelled too close to our villain's inner thigh at present, seemingly ready to administer some even stronger punishment in the event of his struggling once again.

… Where were they, anyway?

After a wait that was too long and awkward to be enjoyable, having nothing to listen to other than the wailing cry of the siren in the distance, the dog who'd woken a few of it's friends by this point, and the desperate pants of the white-haired spirit beside him as he restrained him, a prickle of streetlight blossomed into the nothingness. Light!

It fell calmly and soft as summer rain against the cracked window pane the two were behind, across the handsome curve of Bakura's thigh between his own, and the remains of a very expensive-looking vase on the ground-now lying in pieces amongst a green leafy stem and a measurable amount of soil. The two were huddled together just inside the humble porch of one of the houses in the suburban neighbourhood, one which may have belonged to a little old plant-loving granny or someone quite similar, judging by the decorations and taste in linoleum coating the ground. Bakura released his hostage.

"Promise me you will never do that ever again!"

"Shush, for the love of Ra! Let's go!" grumbled Bakura, picking his way through the glass door he'd kicked in minutes ago and making sure Marik was in tow.

"Where are you going to go?"

"I don't know; wherever these gardens lead us…"

"Anywhere in particular?"

"Stop asking things!" they slid through a side garden full of tulips surviving the late frost, out into a large expanse of grass, prickled by shrubs and small weeping cherry trees covered with sickeningly pink blossoms.

"Ra, this woman loves her flowers," Marik muttered, watching the spirit vault almost effortlessly to the lower branches of the largest tree at the end of this lawn, ready to leap over the ridiculously high picket fence dividing the garden from all the others backing on.

"Come on, Marik!" he was about to disappear when there was the crunch of glass from the house they'd just left. They both froze, horrified. Marik hiding in the shadows of the flowerbed, Bakura perched oddly on a branch. It was the sort of noise denoting heavy footsteps over said glass. Without even looking back, our villain leapt clear of the tulips and bounded towards the spirit's tree.

"Oi! What are you two doing?!" bellowed a fierce male voice, behind them. Bakura dropped; it almost looked as if he were a canary falling from it's perch how sudden he slipped, but still managed to land frustratingly safe on his haunches below. Marik chanced a wild glance back, and the sight almost drove him to scrambling up it's trunk like a scared kitten. The man(yes man) who had appeared from the smashed house was almost as wide as the van he and the spirit had travelled in, with enormous bulging muscles popping from the dressing gown he was donned in, snake tattoo standing out against tanned flesh as it curled around his left arm. This man had a marginally small amount of hair, but couldn't have been past the age of thirty, and must have been so much taller than either Bakura and Marik put together he'd be able to step on both of them simultaneously like bugs.

"I said what are you doing!" he roared, like a bull. Marik leapt higher than he'd ever done so prior to this, and scrambled into the tree's branches desperately. He could hear the resonating thumps of this enraged man's footsteps, so heavy indeed that they almost caused the ground to vibrate.

"Get back here you thieves! What did you steal?" he hollered towards the retreating figure. Bakura, below, was peering amused through a crack in the fence.

"He's going to follow me!" Marik squeaked, managing to land gracefully despite his awkward leap, and rounded on the tree with his rod.

"Quickly, send him to the shadows!"

"Why send him when you can send the route he'll take to get to us?" grinned Bakura wickedly, turning to calculate how far away the next main road was.

"I said what did you steal? Give it back!" the tree's leaves jostled roughly, appearing to prove this lump some difficulty to scale.

"Oh, well now that you mention 'steal'," grinned the spirit, his chocolate brown eyes concealed by untidy white mane, " I think that _tree_ will be an ample gift for the shadows,"

The ring emitted a violent burst of brightness, throwing the shadow in various patterns across it's owner's pale face before there was a blinding flash. When Marik's sight returned, he could hardly believe his eyes.

The man was sprawled across the garden, in his ridiculous green night gown, and where the tree they had both climbed was, now resembled a large earthy hole. No branches reached into the cool night air, no quiet whispering of oak leaves… their escape ladder had gone!

"You amateur! You sent a _**tree**_ to the shadow realm?!" yelled our villain in disbelief.

"Come on before he finds another way over," was all the spirit had to reply, stalking his way through the new garden(which was considerably less flowery- in fact it was a derelict field compared to the one they just left.) The roars of equal disbelief coming from the other side of the fence drifted over.

"But why did you spare him?" he caught up as Bakura wrenched open the wooden gate into the street.

"Two attacks in one night will prove a little suspicious, don't you agree?"

"You idiot! A tree though!"

"Oh give over, Marik, I'm not in the mood…"

The next main road seemed almost identical to the last, stretching off into the distance like in some crummy TV show, with porches and picket fences lining each garden; a perfect picture of suburban bliss.

The spirit emerged behind our villain, absent-mindedly wrestling with a twig which had chosen to lodge itself in his wild white mane, and proceeded to extract it as they strolled down the dark road in the odd streetlight… which painted the exterior of each house yellow, and turned the blue short-sleeved jacket Bakura wore a vile shade of grey-green.

"So when were you about to think out this plan of yours?" asked Marik after a minute of silence.

"Who says I didn't think it out?"

"Well judging by the fact that we're lost in the middle of nowhere, without any way of finding out where that happens to be, and being chased (or about to be reported) by some army guy in a dress who's had his !_tree_! sent to the shadow realm, then…  
I mean really, what does the shadows want a tree for?"

"I said shut it, Marik. And anyway, don't you recognise where you are? I thought you were the one riding around on motorbikes," the spirit pointed unhelpfully into the distance, which failed to jog any memory Marik may have had of being here ever before.

"What are you pointing at?" he scowled.

"Don't you see? A motorbike!"

In fact he was proved to be right, a second later when they reached a commotion spewing from one of the perfect houses. The door was wide open, all the lights in the place were blaring away, and there appeared to be some sort of domestic row taking place in the hall complete with raised voices, shrieks that could wake the dead and door-slamming. However, on the path sat a purring motorbike, ready to be driven off.

"Are you suggesting I steal someone's bike?"

"Well how else are we going to get out of here?"

"I'd of thought you'd be all for me _sending it to the shadow realm_ instead!"

"Seriously, Marik, I'd advise you shut your mouth about that now, before _you_ end up there!"

Arriving at it's side, he could see the polished set of keys dangling from the ignition and feel the ready vibration of it's engine. He liked this feel on his old bike… the one which was damaged in the crash… but now he knew after the sensation Bakura had introduced him to surrounding engines in general, this attachment would never be the same again.

There was a couple in the house shouting at each other, and were far too busy to notice as our villain threw a leg across it. The bike was larger than his; it had a foreign smell from the leather seat, and conveniently had enough room for both the teen delinquents to fit on. The man in the house turned and noticed Marik on his bike as he tested it's mobility.

"Hey! You!" he roared, stomping down the corridor towards him. Marik grinned a wicked grin, and revved the accelerator, pulled his leg up and sped away in a flurry of dust, leaving Bakura behind, standing forlornly on the pavement.

"This is not funny!" he fumed to the back of the retreating blond and the red bike, left to deal with the angry owner on his own.

No sooner had the man approached him though, than he had slumped unconscious to the ground.

"Stan!" the woman stomped towards the door, too. "Don't just walk away, you're not finished here!" the gently fluttering arctic fringe shading demonic eyes parted with the dying glow, revealing the deep mocha orbs beneath.

"I think he is," was all Bakura could offer her, before sprinting off to punish our crafty little villain who'd abandoned his partner in crime.

"Stan! Stan! What did you do to him?" she shrieked after, but he was too far away to care.

............................................................................................................................................................................................................

Meanwhile our villain sped up the road, white broken line whizzing past under his left, clothes tearing back beneath the chilly night air. He rejoiced in this heaven of speed; this was his first time since the accident he'd got back onto the saddle of a motorbike. And it felt fine.

But then he realised he should probably wait to see if Bakura was still around, almost slightly concerned he would disappear and leave him stranded in a place he'd never been before. The tyres came to a halt and he propped it against his weight, peering back into the smoggy night.

A small figure was jogging into sight, jacket billowing out behind, ancient Egyptian artefact dangling heavily from around his neck and dark scowl betraying a bad mood.

"Marik, get back here!"

"Hurry up, before someone comes!" he shouted back, although unlike his silverette friend, he would spare nobody from the shadows who happened to get in his way! And he would not offer trees to them, either!

Once Bakura reached him, panting, he seized him around the middle and leapt to the back of the bike almost as if he did this sort of thing every day.

"Well get going, then," he panted into Marik's ear. The bike revved beneath his clenched fist, and the horizon closed over them, as he sped away.

Thirty… forty.. Went the speed dial.. And still Bakura laid his jaw against our villain's shoulder… he could feel him breathing against his back…his arms tight around our villain's waist…

"What's wrong, Marik?" asked a low British growl in his ear. Because his voice was so deep, it sort of tickled.

"Well I'm sort of concentrating on the road…" he pointed out, praying the spirit never released his waist, ever…

"Pity you weren't when you almost killed me," he whispered back, pulling a strand or two of long hair back from his face, and slicked them behind his ear.

"Well perhaps you should watch who you run out in front of next time," our villain replied, the wind snatching the same piece of hair back out as soon as he turned the corner. Finally he knew where he was!

The town, derelict at this early hour lay sprawled around the corner, and the great pillars of the museum began to loom towards them from it's perch at the top of the carpet of stairs leading upwards. Beyond that lay Domino town square, and then they would have done a full circle.. Back to the hospital…

"Marik, pull over!" came a sharp instruction from the throaty growl in his ear.

"What is it? Don't tell me you have to go to the bathroom again.."

"No, just pull over!" obediently, he slowed alongside the path and came to a halt. The arms around him were removed, and suddenly Bakura was alongside him, clutching the ring in one hand. It was glowing faintly in recognition, and one of it's five prongs was pointing straight out.

"Why's it doing that?" Marik asked, but the spirit did not reply, he only went on staring at it, with a confused gleam in his hazel eyes.

"You might want to abandon that bike now," was his hastened reply, before striding off down the street, brandishing the ring before him like a metal detector. Marik frowned from his throne atop the red bike. What was the point of taking it, then?

"Fine, wait up!" Forced to climb down, he rested it against it's stand and pocketed the keys before thundering after Bakura, now almost right in front of the museum stairs. When he got here, he stopped. His face was still contorted in confusion, but he was fixing the building in such a stare as if he'd just discovered it for the first time.

Marik reached him, and slowed. The ring was pointing towards the building.

"Why's it doing that?"

"It senses other magical energy."

"You're not thinking of going in there, are you? It's three in the morning, it won't be open!"

Bakura's face broke into a very demonic grin, which clearly stated this was his obvious intention.

"There's always another way in," he smiled.

"There'll be guards," Marik pointed out, as the spirit began to climb the steps, two at a time.

"Since when do I pay attention to that sort of thing?" a car passed down on the road, and still they climbed.

"Oh, fine… I have some mind slaves in there.. If they happen to still be there, I'll get them to open the door for us. But don't expect any favours from me ever again…" Marik stopped when the spirit came to a halt at their peak, waiting for him.

"I don't expect anything, little one," he grinned, reaching down to kiss our villain's forehead.

"I just take it without asking.."

**A/n: hmmmmm. Did you laugh? If you did, I'd be happy to know at what parts:). And please review, even you people out there who always read and haven't dropped me a line yet. Come on, it's the least you could do for an easter present? *Puppy eyes*. Oh, and I wasn't sure how good all the action scenes in this was, so could you tell me what you though of them? Do they need beefing up a little?**

**And finally, the finals will be starting very soon, don't worry, they'll be when Bakura finally hurries up and gets that duel disc. XD you'll be happy to know that'll be somewhere in the next chap. It might be a bit longer before I update, but don't worry, substantial plot points will come up in the next chapter, and some of their actions in this one will soon come back to haunt them too. So hopefully you don't think I've lost it! I haven't, I promise!  
Oh, and I'm taking the weekend off. So see you all next week sometime, and don't forget to review!**


	7. Chpt 6 Interrupted theft

**A/n: Finally I've got off my lazy behind and wrote a next chapter! Blah I was held up for the last hour as I kept been called to watch Xfactor when I didn't want to! Gah, mothers! Okay ... I must apologise... again this chapter's been chopped into two bits for a certain reason: I'm in desperate need of your opinion, my dear readers! But over what, I will not spoil just yet. I hope you enjoy this half of the theft chapters, since it's short, sweet and not comprised of as much as I would have liked.  
Oh, and I had a whole bunch of new subscribers over Easter, so welcome! I'm glad you've joined our little theifshipping voyage into the unknown 'what ifs' of Battle city!**

**IMPORTANT: I really do need your opinion at the bottom, so I'd be ever greatful if you told me yours in a review. Even if you don't normally review, don't be shy. I don't bite:D It'll only take a second to press the little button.... ;)**

**Disclaimer: Yes, both Marik and Bakura are very smexy. I admit that. But as much as I along with half the world want to own them or Yugioh in general, we don't. Me included. T-T**

**Chapter 6: Interrupted theft**

Not a light came on as the two teens made their way around the side of the closed museum, a cruel breeze helping them along from behind. The stars were out in their thousands, small constellations being strewn along in confused smatterings, in the wake of the large pale face of the moon.

"Marik! Hurry up!" called the gruff voice of his new friend from in front, already halfway across the sandy-stone courtyard to the doors. Our villain scowled; especially since he'd been told this order so many times over the past few chapters.

The spirit was still clutching the side of the millennium ring in one hand like a leash, and it still dictated that the source of the power they were now following was in through the two iron doors in front of them. The dark glass refused them entry, and when Marik finally arrived beside the slightly taller teen, he could practically feel the malicious intent seeping off of him.

"Bakura, don't just break in, you fool! Remember what I said about the guards?" he asked sharply fearing him to just stick a foot through the glass as he had in the porch, and linked the spirit's bent arm to prevent him from causing the building any damage. Bakura's hazel eyes glinted in anger, even though they never left the scene enclosed by the glass.

"Well you're the fool then, since you said you had mind control over them," he replied, icily, although he still did not attempt to remove our villain's arm.

"I do! But we're not going in the front entrance, it'll have to be the back one," He grumbled in reply, attempting to drag the white-haired demon off. However he seemed reluctant to go anywhere, and remained completely motionless against the blonde's attempt to remove him.

"Are you certain?" he asked, when he finally ceased to resist the other.

"There's a back entrance used when they deliver something to the museum, that's the best way to get in at three in the morning. Don't worry, I come here all the time," he added, when his companion glanced quickly to see if he was joking. He seemed uneasy compared to his usual frustratingly calm attire, Marik noticed as they slid through a side gate and round to a small paved courtyard at the building's rear. This one was much smaller than the entrance, which had a roof held aloft by five enormous pillars. This one barely covered the door, which was bolted shut from the inside and comprised of a thickly navy coloured metal. A huge dumpster sat to one side. For some reason our villain expected Bakura to look into it(being the cunning thief he appeared to be) but he didn't; the ring was now pointing with two prongs toward the corner they had just rounded. Two minutes passed of clearly uneasy silence, in which the two boys stared at said glowing object.

"Well hurry up! We don't have all day, you know!" A harsh voice barked- which belonged to an impatient spirit of the ring. Our villain realised with a shiver he still had an arm linked through the other's, and pulled away sharply.

Marik sighed after that to attempt to lighten his mood, and bringing the rod automatically up across his chest so that it's horns tickled his neck, cool and lucid, he reached out mentally for any conscious nearby which he happened to find familiar.

One eagerly presented itself like always, which he immediately ordered to let them in. Another few long seconds passed uneventfully, and in this Marik began to fiddle with part of the rod. He was not a very patient person himself, and realised amidst a twinge of anger that his company was watching him with a very bemused expression.

"Hurry up, you useless mind slave!" He roared, knowing full well the person he was speaking to would hear him through the mind link. The spirit continued to fix him in that piercing warm gaze- it was strangely very icy yet it gave our villain the most curious feeling of seeping heat inside his gut. He likened it to eating hot custard on one of those nights where the wind hightails it's way through the shutters, rips around the desert sand like a sheet and lowers the temperature to a staggering new level of cold. Like taking a hot bath outside on a starless night. Like tonight…

Thankfully the idea that was beginning to form in his mind was expelled forcefully when the door jerked open unexpectedly. Bakura needed no second invitation and slid in through the crack before it had finished opening, resulting in a pause our villain was not willing to wait the duration of.

As he followed the stealthy silverette inside, a middle-aged man with a shock of black hair was the other side to greet them. His face was fixed in a thick grin; just the reason, Marik remembered, he chose him to be one of the many mind puppets he possessed.

"Welcome, Master," he grovelled, looking strangely out of place in a locked museam at three in the morning. Marik glanced around in distaste; the place was still drowned in swirling darkness, and he could no longer see Bakura at all.

"Shut that door behind you!" he snapped to the black-cloaked man, before striding out into the centre of the store room.

A hand came out of nowhere and seized him around the middle.

"…Bakura! Don't do that!" he gasped, when a silvery mane tickled around the base of his neck. A pair of sparkling dark eyes followed.

"Well if you'd just stay with me then perhaps I wouldn't have to grab you every two seconds," he concurred, leaning his head against our villain's shoulder affectionately and rocking him very slightly back and forward.

Marik could feel something hard bite into his lower back; it was very uncomfortable to bear, especially since he now knew this was where his friend stood. Was he……?

"What do you say, that we carry on what we left off?" asked a deep melodic growl around his ear. Left off when? He thought desperately.

"Fr…from the truck?" he gasped, aware the stupid mind puppet would be watching.

"No," tone of voice slid a little darker, "our little quest to discover the source of the mystical energies my ring here-" little nudge in the small of his back from the mystery object- "Is detecting…If we're lucky, it could be another millennium item.. "

He had to bite his lip in embarrassment. Surely he, the great Marik Ishtar would not fall victim to a dirty mind? Especially when he had no interest in this sort of carry-on!…Or, this is what he tells himself…

"Well stop _hugging _me then, and let's get this over and done with!"

The museum itself was derelict, which at this hour was understandable. Strange shadows cast by mummies leering from sarcophaguses lined their path, along with little trinkets made of gold behind glass cases. It was a place Marik often found himself nowadays, although he couldn't quite explain why. He just found it comforting, to be surrounded by all this old junk in the dead of night.

When the nightmares became too much to bear.

However it all also reminded him of his forsaken duty of tomb keeper to the great Nameless Pharaoh- who, he also forced himself to remember, he would finally dethrone if this plan went perfectly. And finally, after five millennia, his family would be free.

"The energy is strongest down here…"

They came upon a shut door; another storeroom that seemed not to be accessible to the general public. However they weren't just the general public, Marik had to remind himself.

"Well hurry up and see if the door's unlocked…" he snapped, glancing behind him. He thought he'd felt the presence of someone else for a minute there…

They soon discovered the door was, indeed unlocked.. The ring was now pointing towards the door with as much strength it could have beyond it's golden exterior; all five prongs were erect and horizontal to the floor as Bakura held it closely. With one hand he wrenched the door open, and slid in without waiting for Marik.

"Don't leave it open, you fool!" he was close behind the barely visible white mane in the darkness, this room without any light to pierce the depths of the shadow Marik now found himself wading into.

"Must you be so loud?" the door which our villain had also now left slightly ajar provided the only other light source- a thin stream of it, which created a long skinny puddle across the tiled ground. Just enough (When coupled with the softly glowing ring in Bakura's left hand) to notice the huge stone tablet behind glass on the far wall.

All at once, the ring fell limp, and the light it gave off vanished.

"No!….What's this?" Bakura stalked closer to the rock with a calculative snarl, and Marik edged closer to him.

He thought he'd never have behold this terrible sight ever again, but no. Cruel fate had other things in store for him!

"It's been years since the last time I've laid eyes on this…" grinned the demon unexpectedly beside our villain, a monstrous gleam in his chocolate eyes. For the stone tablet depicted in hieroglyphs and carvings, the Pharaoh's secret. Huge dual monsters and the original carvings of the Egyptian god monsters coloured it in it's entirety; the secret of the millennium puzzle… the secret power that would be _his_ before this tournament was done…

"Wait, You've seen this before?" how could someone like Bakura know about this ancient heritage, unless he…

"Ah… well this tells the tale of a great Pharaoh who once saved the-"

"I know! I had it carved into my back!"

An awkward pause followed in the half-light, in which the two realised something very important about each other.

One who had witnessed first-hand the events the other was forced to uphold in tradition, but both irreversibly scarred by them. They were quite similar.

Tomb robber and forsaken tomb keeper.

"…Why do you want the millennium items, again?" Marik asked, to break the silence. However the look Bakura now had in those eyes was the most beautiful thing he'd seen yet, even though he couldn't quite make out what exactly that happened to be.

"Whoever wields all seven has power unimaginable. Why is it you _don't _want them?" He replied, although the gleam never left him. The ring dangled innocently from around his neck once again, below his crossed arms. Something about his attire told our villain he was suspicious- but Marik couldn't blame him. Nor could he just spill it about the Pharaoh's secret powers. Or then he might be forced to be some pet at the feet of a new one. …Not that he'd mind having this demon around as _his_ slave when he did take over as Pharaoh- mmmh...he was a very pretty sight indeed. But he would not allow him to take our villain's carefully calculated prize like that!

"I told you, I'm a collector too. And I want those two remaining Egyptian God cards. So win me those in these finals and I'll make sure you get what you want!

… I thought we'd already agreed this? You still need a dual disc to enter so I suggest we get out of here and go rob someone." our crafty little mastermind suggested, turning back to the door.

"Ah come now, Marik. Perhaps we could just stay here a little longer? I don't suppose you appreciate the past like I would…" The spirit seized him around the waist again, gently, sliding one open hand seductively the length of his bronze chest, concealed by the bypassed white jacket, and this time adhered a light kiss to the side of his face. His touch was smooth and cool; cooler than the atmosphere within Marik's clothing, anyway. But just not cold enough to be considered uncomfortable.

"Urgh, you pick the strangest of times, don't you?" our villain was beginning to tire of his friend's surprise 'attacks', which were becoming both increasingly unpredictable and random. But he couldn't scold him fully, he was just curious like our villain was about his new friend... but he'd just find out the best ways into Bakura's pants himself- whenever they were in a more...ahem... _private_ place.

"Mmh, you obviously don't see the appeal to this room that I do,"

"You're turned on by a giant stone tablet?!"

There was a pause. Marik felt the spirit's grip change.

"No, do you not feel the surging power that converges on this room? It's just…nice, being in the middle, don't you agree? We don't have to stay though, if you happen to be uncomfortable…"

Our villain turned in the other's arms, and he withdrew the one beneath his clothing.

"You know we're not the only people in this building, don't you?" His handsome friend grinned a wicked grin back.

"Yes of course… that's where the appeal lies, my young friend…" he slowly bent until their lips touched; Marik immediately seized the oppourtunity to wage another battle for top spot in the beautiful demon's mouth, and they melted into each other instantly. It was surprisingly a very deep and meaningful kiss to any onlookers that may have lurked outside the room.

And unfortunately for Marik and Bakura they did have one.

"Marik Ishtar!" There was a figure now taking up the crack in the door- tall and slender as a shadow, with a waterfall of dark locks cascading down her back- two haunting blue eyes bore into them, the person who now held the door and cornered the two. Marik opened one eye and caught a glimpse of the bronze face staring him down. When he finally recognised it, his jaw set, resulting in his partner almost using one of his famous canines to saw off some part of the inside of his mouth. He almost felt the earth converge beneath him to swallow him whole, as Bakura now noticed something was wrong. He knew that person well, it made nausea rise from his stomach and his whole body shiver in fear -it was one of the least favourable people in the world he would like to have discovering him in this compromising setup.

........"Ishizu!" Marik yelped, tearing away from Bakura frantically and trying to free himself the second he identified her, and once the reality had set in. However his friend was not as complacent.

"You know her?" the spirit would not be convinced into letting him go that easily, and two strong pale arms still constricted him all the while.

"She's my sister, you fool! Get off me!"

Bakura finally held up his hands in protest, and severely ruffled, our villain desperately attempted to straighten himself out. What a predicament to be uncovered in!

"Sister! What are you doing here?" he asked; still very edgy.

"Marik! Haven't I told you before that you're not supposed to kiss other _boys_? It's not acceptable in the society you've come into!"

Our villain felt his cheeks burning; there was nothing he could do to prevent that, nor his older sister's predictable reaction. They'd always told him it was wrong- and he usually didn't care- it wasn't like he made a habit of kissing _anyone,_ actually.

…But if he wanted to kiss Bakura, then who would stop him when he was Pharaoh?? Still, until that did inevitably happen, he couldn't just stand there shamed in front of his new friend like this and take his punishment as if he were a naughty child! For he, Marik Ishtar answers to nobody! Dully, he realised he was shaking, and stiffened his jaw even more in resolution. This was it… he had to give some sort of comeback…

"…I... wasn't _kissing_ him!" he whined finally, although if he had of wanted to sound any more like a child, there possibly could be no such way. Even he was unaware of how immature it had come out.

"Marik, we had this discussion in _detail_ two years ago. You're not one of _them_, so stop acting like one!"

"I told you, I take orders from no-one! I _wasn't_ kissing him, okay?" he had to glance back at his bemused partner, arms now crossed in a mock display of surprise.

"Come on Bakura, you're supposed to back me up!"

"Oh? I was just staying out of the sibling rivalry," he assured him with a sneer. Was this all a big joke to him? This was our villain's pride on the line!

"…What are you doing here, at this hour anyway?" asked the concerned woman before them, still arms folded and worry clouding her blue eyes as she beheld her lost boy-kissing brother.

"Shouldn't you be telling us that, Ishizu? Or have you lost the power to see into the future after all that?" Marik growled contemptuously, subconciously widening the gap between he and the silverette, who was now preoccupied once again by the stone tablet. _He probably does get off on that_, our villain scoffed in his head, when he caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of a bright eye.

"I do know, brother. But I'd rather you told me with your own mouth than just assuming it.." she clasped her hands together before her, and for the first time the necklace that hung tightly across her collarbone glimmered dangerously.

"Hmm. What we're doing here is none of your business anyway," our villain frowned, and turned towards Bakura. "Stop looking at that rock and let's go already," He'd had enough embarrassment already to last him a lifetime!

"But where else are you to find a dual disc at this time of the morning?" Ishizu asked, slowly. Her tone was unwavering, however something about her person suggested to Marik that she was very nervous. Was it because of Bakura being there?

"Why? Do you have one for me or something?"

"It's not for you, though, is it?"

It was just as Marik remembered. He could hide nothing from his sister, since they got the millennium items. But then why was she so shocked at seeing him and Bakura kissing, then? It wasn't exactly the first time it'd happened… nor would it be the last, if he was not mistaken.

"No it's not for me. Of course I already have one!… Now are you going to be useful or shall I just go and wander the streets?"

The dark-haired woman sighed and turned back to the door; her little brother never really changed, nowadays. Whatever he set his mind on, he would have. When he was really young he was truly happy, but now these vicious fads overtook him in on regular intervals. First it had been motorbikes… then revenge on their sacred Pharaoh… now kissing other boys. It was all she could do to try and stop him, but he would be saved from himself when the time was right… Perhaps this was why she tried to stay as far away from him as she could, until then.

"I'll be back in a few minutes. I suggest you two behave yourselves while I'm gone," Upon reaching the door, she flicked on the light switch- brightness exploded all around like an atom bomb, reflected from the glass and tiles, and as our villain gasped and covered his eyes against the shock of this assault, she shut the door firmly.

"Come back…! Oh well. …Bakura? What are you doing?" When his pale eyes had finally re-adjusted to the level of light, he turned to find his friend, and noticed he was once again pre-occupied by the legacy. The white haired demon's mane obscured his whole face as he stared down at the golden object around his own neck, still facing the stone tablet. A single prong was elevated, and pointed at it.

"Don't tell me _it _gets off on that thing too!"

"No, your sister is the source of the magical energy my ring has been tracking…" answered a bewildered Bakura, still scanning over the etched surface of the sandy stone behind the glass, creating lucid patterns across the floor with it's reflective surface.

"And what am I supposed to do about that? If we're lucky she might get me a dual disc for you, after all this so you can win me those god cards!…How good are your duelling skills, anyway?"

"They're fine, Marik. I suggest you stop underestimating me and accept me for what I am!"

"…But how do I know you're good? After all this trouble to set you up in the finals...after you almost get us both killed…you could be a just a waste of time and effort on my part for all I know…!"

Bakura leaned closer to our villain's face.

"Do I _look_ like a waste of time to you?" he was grinning devilishly; our villain inhaled sharply- the light threw itself into folds across his pale face beneath a wash of snowy fringe, two dark mocha orbs staring him down confidently.

He looked beautiful.

"N…we'll have to see," Marik chose his words carefully lest his associate decided to get too friendly again. Once was enough for this sheltered little evil mastermind to be caught snogging a boy!… A very feminine, ravishingly _beautiful _boy if he may say so, but a boy nonetheless.

Neither made an attempt to move, one bent sideways, the other gazing up, so close their noses almost touched, wedged into a fixing headlock of unexplained feelings. That is, until the door snapped open again.

All at once Marik leapt aside, praying his face did not display the same level of guilt that cramped his gut at that moment. In the doorway framed by a puddle of shadow was our villain's sister, creamy gown billowing out behind her. In her left hand she held a dual disc- a predominantly blue machine, gleaming in all it's new glory.

"Hmm… so you can manage to be of some use to me, after all?" asked our villain, although he sensed it would not be that easy, since it was another Ishtar he was dealing with.. He could feel Bakura move beside him, until they were almost shoulder-to-shoulder.

_What in the name of Ra is he doing that for_??

"…But if you think I'm just going to give you this, you're sadly mistaken!" replied Ishizu, as our bronze little mastermind had anticipated, holding up the disc as if it were a great war-trophy. He was not in the mood for her meddling games.

"Oh fine then, we'll just go and get one elsewhere!" responded her brother, before he could even stop himself. If she wanted to play hard-to-get, that was not his issue. He knew he could just force her with the rod that hung slackly at the back of his belt, but for some reason that didn't appeal to him too much at the moment. ..After all, she was family. But he should go ahead and do it after she embarrassed him in front of Bakura like that!

"…I will however, allow you the pleasure of duelling me for it," added the woman before them, when our villain approached her and the door to leave. Marik could hardly believe his ears. Duel?! She ceaselessly beat him while they were children… frustrating him to no ends. If only they could duel while she wasn't aware of every move he was going to make before he made it himself…! However, his mind was fixed deftly on the prizes of the last two god cards, the one he accidentally lost to Yugi, and the last remaining beast his sister had foolishly given to Seto Kaiba- the host of this charming tournament, and would not be unfocused by this. (And also not a very tough adversary to have to beat, he grinned to himself- he was lucky to possess the single strongest God card there was. And since Kaiba was scanning each card being played through tracking satellites, Marik would deny him the chance of previewing it's awesome power before facing it's wrath…whenever that would be.)

"A duel? What do you think I am? Senile?" he grinned, glancing quickly at his silverette friend.

"Well if you don't want it brother…"

"I do- but your opponent won't be me, it'll be the one who really needs the prize," Marik continued, glancing back at Bakura. His face was a wash of surprise and cunning pleasure.

"Marik? What do you mean?"

"Bakura, I'm sick of doing everything _for_ you! Go and fight for your own stuff if you want my millennium rod!"

"Doing everything for me…? Who was it stood there like a stricken fawn when we were uncovered in the van a little while ago? Who was it got you a free pass into becoming closer to his enemies?"

"…And who was it ran out in front of oncoming traffic and almost killed me?!"

Ishizu's eyes widened as she realised something unbeknownst to the two bickering boys, who were reluctant to give up their childish argument.

"This is about the millennium items? Marik, how could you!"

"…Sister, you know why I'm doing all this. If you're smart, you'll stay out of my way! I'm not afraid to use my own item against you if the need arises, I suggest you remember. Now I suggest you give my comrade there a lend of that until he wins it." Marik pointed to the disc briefly, abandoning his pointless fight with Bakura hastily. The duel was more important now.

This was quite a nice setup, really. He could get a glimpse of the spirit's duelling skills_ and_ not have to do anything substantial. Just the way he liked things.

"It doesn't matter who accepts my challenge. Just promise me this Marik, if I win here, then you must stop pursuing romantic exchanges with boys! Especially this one… you have no idea what sort of danger you're getting into, here!" Ishizu tossed the disc towards the spirit, who caught it gracefully and turned it once in his hand, examining the prize. Evidently finding it satisfactory, he slid it around his forearm as if he'd been doing this his whole life.

"Come now woman, he seems old enough to decide such things for himself, does he not?" he grinned, making an equally satisfied smile appear across our villain's lips, for after all- this time he was right. Sixteen surely was a satisfactory age to make such choices, right?

"My brother must learn to do things himself, not be told his whole life, Bakura! …If that's even your real name,"

"Why would I lie?"

"Actually you never introduced yourself at all. I know your aura… and I need not say any more."

"What do you say we up the stakes a little higher?" asked the demon darkly, his rough, undefined British accent as jagged as his untidy mane. Marik felt a familiar rush of coldness envelope them, as if an enormous ghost had sat down on the room. The lights went out with a bang, causing the dark to fall like a sheet around them. All three millennium items glowed, Marik's behind him created a monsterous version of his own familiar misshapen shadow across the designated duel arena. It was just enough to be considered efficiant to tell what was going on.

"I now pronnounce this a shadow game. And if I win, not only do I get your _brother..." _here a little sideways grin at Marik-who returned it very sarcastically, "I wish to claim your millennium necklace, which my ring led us in here for. As well as this dual disc you've so..._kindly_ lent me..." He proclaimed, standing directly opposite Marik's sister confidently. _This could well be interesting..._ he thought to himself, grinning internally.

"And what if I win?"

"I'll leave Marik alone, and let you leave the shadows. Isn't that a fair deal?" he replied, shrugging. The shadow realm was not the most pleasant place to be, even if it was only a temporary post. Our bronze villain slouched against the wall with uncomfortableness and extracted his rod, allowing the light it was emitting to starch the playing field, and create a triangular pit of light with the other two.

"Although unfair, my necklace has shown me it's outcome already. And so I accept your challenge!" she replied, and threw back part of the creamy folds of the wrap she wore, exposing her hidden right arm-which Marik now noticed was adorned in another dual disc. "....As far as I remember it was you who issued the challenge?"

Shall we begin this duel now or stand here giving pleasantries all night?" she asked, activating this dual disc. The hologram projectors shimmered irredescent light, further illuminating the darkened room for all to see. Marik stood eagerly slouched back; he would have admitted to being very excited to witness the outcome had he not have cared so little. If his sister won, he'd just make her give them the disc anyhow. And if Bakura won… well, since Ishizu had the power to predict his moves, that was highly unlikely… but if he did, then he would turn out to be a very valuable pawn indeed in his cunning little game.

…And a very beautifully handsome one at that, which he was very content to sit here and watch at half three in the morning. There was no rest indeed for the wicked!

His plan was already well on it's way to working…he was guaranteed to enter the finals… and to top it all off, he was allowed the privilege of watching his amazingly graceful friend face off against his sister in dual. There was nothing he could imagine more worthy of doing!

The field was set; both contestants inserted their decks, set the machines to 4000 lp and drew their first five cards, bathed in the half-light of the hologram projectors, and their wildly glowing millennium items. Bakura was already grinning widely showing two fangs hooked handsomely across his lip, and his posture was confident, stiff; it appeared he'd drawn something good.

However since his sister was able to predict the future, she was quiet as usual, and it was evident immediately who was going to start.

"Duel!"

**A/n: Yes! Marik got caught in an open-mouthed kiss with Bakura by none other than his SISTER!!!! haha, epic fail on his part :P Okay, and finally, we have a duelXD!Hooray, now I can test my skills in writing these accursed parts of Yugioh fanfiction!**

**Allright: question time- I stopped writing here, because I need to know how you want the story to go on. I know there's some that don't care, but I am really confused here, so it'd really help to have an idea before it starts. I can either:**

**1: Write it how the show do it, with those crappy moves and cards so that it ends quickly(Except in the anime they'd talk so much it lasted five episodes...! Grr.. I used to hate that..)**

**or 2: Enhance their decks as far as I can, make them do PROPER moves that actually make sense, and have it burn out for as long as possible (But no more than half to three quarters the length of the next chapter.)**

**Okay. Thanks for reading, and hope to get the next one up asap! You can guess the outcome of this match if you want, I'd be glad to see who you'd deem the victorXD,Just remember-this is all in preporation for the dear finals which will hopefully be epic:D (and they'll start as soon as this duel ends and Ryou gets fully better. -Perhaps next chapter.. Oh my little kitten, how I love you so. But you're proving to be quite a nuisance to the boys T.T Oh, and remember-the more reviews I get, the faster I update. :) :)**


	8. Chpt 7 Ongoing struggles

**A/n: oh, I'm sorry this was so late! I lost the sheet of duel moves I'd planned out and got all discouraged there for a while during the week! But thanks to my very good friend Black Neko-chan and the great love of theifshipping she has, (not to mention the awesomeness waves she sent:D) they didn't help me to find it, by the way... the sheet remains missing.. but it did give me the little encouraging kick I needed to re-write it today and finish the chapter, so go us!  
...And I tried to make the moves as good as I could, but I think I kept them in character so well it reflected in the duel. XD so you be the judge of how good it actually is, it was sort of rushed because practiaclly the whole chapter save for two pages(out of 16) was written in the last four hours.**

**In other news, you might have noticed I uploaded a new story called Crimson wings in the last week. well, It's my work but my Bakushipping friend thought she was helping by uploading it well in advance before I'd finished at all, so Seiri apologises, I'll try to find time to work on getting the real version up sometime during the week. :)**

**Okay. Hope you enjoy the duel, Seiri would really like your advice and/or ideas for future ones.**

**Disclaimer: Since you're my new little darling, Marik, would you like to help me say the disclaimer?  
****Marik: -.- ...  
No?? Okay, well Seiri doesn't own the rights to yugioh, or any of it's fabulously pretty boys....**

**Chapter 7- Ongoing struggles**

The two warring duelists faced each other confidently; Bakura was poised ready like a lithe feline, one deliciously sleek knee bent- Marik's sister across from him, smiling quietly… waiting…

Marik, who stood slouched lazily against the iron cold of the shadow realm which surrounded them, smirked internally. This was a duel he was not about to miss… even though he wasn't worried in the slightest that if (and it was highly likely) Bakura lost, Ishizu expected him to stay away from Marik. If he really wanted the rod, he wasn't going anywhere. But on top of that, his meddling sister had not mentioned anything stipulating _he_ was to stay away from Bakura.

…Okay she had, but he wasn't about to just let something that beautiful just up and leave! Perhaps she was just jealous, that Marik got to swap spit with such an amazing-looking creature and she didn't…!

Finally Bakura's fingers rested upon the back of the deck, and he pulled- releasing his top card.

"I'll start, since you're just standing there," he concurred, bearing a canine wolfishly.

"Yes, ladies first!" Marik catcalled from the sidelines, earning a weak smile from his sister, but a throaty warning from the spirit of the millennium ring. What little light was being reflected into the field filled his auburn-hazel eyes, full of distaste as he played his first monster.

"I'll summon Dark king of the abyss in attack mode(Atk1200)! Ever hear the legend about the king of kings who lost control of his minions?" he asked sarcastically, as something glistened beneath the slimy coat of illumination filling the room's floor. It licked it's way sensuously all around the shape until it was proved humanoid, and comprised of only bones.

"It reminds me of the petty thief who went a little too far and came to an untimely end… if you're referring to him, he's not a king by anyone's count…" mused Ishizu, sounding oddly as if she was making a prediction. Marik frowned and shivered, cursing the shadows for their life-sucking chilliness. If this was the past could she be on about…?

"Hm, you should watch what you say. Some might begin to think you were a fraud at predicting if you speak like that…"

"Are you done, Bakura? Because if you are… that means it's my turn!" our villain's sister drew, however with a little less over-emphasis than the frosty-haired demon had. He was still standing confidently, dual disc glinting before him as she slotted what she had just drew into the machine's side without casting a glance at it, followed by a second facedown.

"…Is that it?" scoffed her challenger when another moment dragged by in silence.

"It's your move… try to beat me if you dare. I promise one of these two cards will be your demise; however all I need is this second one to survive any of your assaults!" predicted the dark-haired woman, half masked by the shadows.

"Fine, if you want to talk in riddles that's quite all right with me. …I like a challenge. And then as soon as I beat you and deflower your little brother, I'm sure you'll admit it was a mistake to ever challenge me!" he responded cockily(hmm. Pun?).

"What do you mean 'deflower'? you'll be sorry you didn't lose, if you do win you fool!" raged the object of Bakura's previous sentence angrily in the backdrop. What was he doing speaking like this in front of his sister? If anyone was going to deflower anyone, it'd be him! …But also that frustrating notion of having his sex life(_ha! _He adds in his mind, _as if I'd ever have one of those_…!) dragged out into the public eye was less than inviting. ( But then again, he remembered slowly afterward… whatever they'd done in the van was what he imagined taking drugs to be like… nauseating at first… then the best cocktail of chemicals there was… and lastly, overcame him in such a drive he couldn't think straight to save his life… it had been quite enjoyable. Even addictive...)

"What's that, my little desert princess? Of course you're safe with me!" He turned back to his holographic skeleton, and the challenger frowning before him. ("Oi, you fool! Who are you calling a girl?!" Marik grumped desperately along the sidelines, face masked garishly from the shadows. Such cheek!)

"And this'll bring me one step closer to rescuing him from you! Dark king, attack Ishizu's life points directly!"

Said monster roared into action, wielding a glinting black blade before it. A flash of light erupted from one of the hologram projectors- something had swallowed the sword whole, and blocked the attack. When the light resumed an ordinary level, it was immediately apparent that one of the two facedowns Ishizu had set last turn had gone to use.

"Sorry, but I'm afraid my brother isn't gay! Now face the wrath of your own doing! Go, dimension wall!" as the cream-cloaked woman raised her arm, the sword reappeared from the depths of the hologram card upright. It tore through the air like a bullet, rounded on it's controller like a boomerang, and struck Bakura squarely across his perfectly toned chest.

With a gasp and as the life point counter dropped to 2800, he glanced up darkly at Marik.

Part of our villain wanted to run and surround him like a mother- he wished someone would have comforted him through all of his sister's unfair beatings she'd handed him; however he swallowed it down with the frown beginning to manifest itself on his face.

"See? You know you can't beat my sister! She knows each of your moves well in advance!" he shouted, wrapping his arms closer around himself to stave off the cold.

"Shut up, Marik! I don't need your untimely comments!" he snarled in advance.

(Quick field review: Ishizu- 4000lp, one facedown.

Bakura- 2800lp dark king of the abyss, (1200 atk) )

The disgruntled spirit lay a facedown monster, a spell/trap to join it and nodded towards the woman opposite.

"All right, fortuneteller! Tell me my future!"

"From where I'm standing, it's looking pretty bleak, Bakura! My turn!" she drew briefly, her necklace glowing softly to shed light on what she'd picked, before setting it facedown on top of the dual disk.

" I'll also set a facedown card and it's back to you, Bakura!"

Marik frowned, forgotten in the shadows. This was her way- she'd procrastinate against attacking, preferring to let her opponent destroy themselves. Was Bakura smart enough to figure this out and do something about it before our uncomfortable villain caught hyperthermia in these ravenous shadows?

"Well you're not going to beat me by cowering behind facedowns, Fortune teller…" grinned the spirit as he drew, a soft gleam of power shivering in his swirling chocolate orbs, provided by the wildly glowing millennium ring. Evidently happy with the new card he'd drawn, he reached for the monster facedown on the field.

"You should have attacked me when you had the chance! For now I flip summon "A cat of ill omen"! And this allows me to add a trap card from anywhere in my deck to the top…" Marik suppressed another shiver as he inspected his friend's posture, as the card hologram of a chubby black cat slid from it's hiding place beneath it's card, while his owner rifled through the deck of tan-backed cards. He seemed confident enough- but surely our villain's sister had accounted for this twist...!

"And the card I'm adding is Destiny board! Prepare to meet the end!" The two bared fangs parted in greed, the wild gleam darting across his face- if anything it made him even more beautiful… Marik assured himself there would be a time when he would be the cause of that maniacal expression…

"Ah but you haven't drawn it yet- who's to say it'll stay there long enough to reach the field?" chided our villain's sister."I'm getting to that… For now I activate Hand of destruction… and we both discard our hands, drawing five new cards! Looks like you were wrong, Ishizu! This brings me just one step closer to winning your brother-" here another fleeting glance at Marik, who scowled darkly in reply, while he discarded the three cards he was holding into the compartment of his borrowed duel disc- "And your millennium necklace!" Both players drew their new cards, Ishizu's dark sapphire eyes glinting in the constantly changing light, like a rock being caressed by the ocean's spray.

"Now! Dark king, attack Ishizu's facedown monster!" commanded the spirit of the ring, wildly.

The slimy figure leapt forward, brandishing his sword once again and it sunk the whole way through the large hologram. Out of the hole that had been punctured through it, came a swarm of tiny insects. They rose in a musty cloud of darkness, blotting out the light and creating a large shadow, which swept across Bakura's monster and towards him.

"By attacking me, you've activated my swarm of locusts! Now behold as they devour your facedown!" Ishizu commanded, calmly. Again, she had forseen this. Call of the haunted was shattered, and job done, the swarm faded into non-existence. Bakura began to chuckle.

"Yes, that may be true, but now you have no monsters left to defend yourself!" he pointed out obviously, crossing two long arms confidently across his chest and slightly obscuring the caramel light pouring from the centre of the ring.

"Attack me again, then… If you dare!" she retorted, but all the spirit could do was snarl in reply.

"Fortunately for you, I'll have to wait until next turn to attack. So I'll just lay this facedown and it's your turn!" he slotted one of his new cards into the spell/trap zone and glanced up at Marik again, his expression unreadable. Our villain made sure he didn't offer him any encouragement; if he wanted to prove himself to him, Marik would not be extending any hands in help. He was completely on his own.

"Fine then- my draw! And the first thing I'll do is summon Zolga to the field!" A shadowey being wrapped in a cape appeared before her, it's face a single eye, fashioned in the same shape as the eye on our observant villain's millennium item.

"Now, my monster! Attack his cat of ill omen!" said figure floated hauntingly towards the cowering feline, and Bakura raised the borrowed dual disc in defence as the cat exploded into tiny data particles before him.

The ring of the decreasing life point counter echoed across the room, not only overseen by our shadow-cloaked villain, but by the solid surface of the age-old stone. The same stone which recorded the sacred information our villain carried on his back.

(Field review: Bakura- 1300lp, one monster(dark king of the abyss(1200atk) one facedown.

Ishizu: 4000lp, one monster (Zolga (1700atk), two facedowns.)

"My turn! Behold, as I activate Destiny board!" he laughed deeply as the purple card was revealed, an enormous floating 'F' appearing high above him like a flag. Blue flames engulfed it, flickering and spitting from it's perch. "Before long, my board will spell out a- special…-message, Ishizu. One you can't ignore…" he explained. "And to add to that, I activate 'the shallow grave', to resurrect Jowgen the spiritualist!"

The new humanoid monster reappeared clutching it's wooden staff and crouched in defence.

"When did that get into your graveyard?" piped up Marik, to be difficult. He knew right well he hadn't seen that before, and was not going to disclose he was secretly rooting for the arctic-haired demon that easily.

"From when I played hand of destruction, dummy!" came the snarled reply almost immediately. "Now please, Marik, let me finish my move!"

He turned back to his female opponent.

"Now normally, due to the effect of my shallow grave, you would be allowed to resurrect your own monster too, but since my Jowgen's on the field, any monster you special summon back would be instantly destroyed, thanks to his special ability. So we'll just do everyone a favour and move on, shall we?" he slotted in another card facedown.

"Your move!"

"Why thank you! Now, I draw!" our villain's sister scanned her cards briefly, something rather unusual considering she was able to predict her own draws.

"First thing I'll start by doing is sacrificing my Zolga, for the stronger Majestic mech, Ohka!" The caped shadow disappeared in a wisp of smoke, replaced by an enormous blotted pink/white lion-like machine. It roared tenaciously in Bakura's face, belittling his small sword-wielding skeleton and displaying all of it's 2400 atk proudly.

"Now do us a favour Ohka, and rid the field of his dark king!" she raised the arm cloaked in her dual disk, and the machine lion leapt toward the spirit's monster.

There was an explosion and a cloud of steam was expelled fiercely, swallowing the two creatures. Marik restlessly gathered his arms further around his shivering midriff… _It's over. I knew he wouldn't last two minutes against my sister,_ he thought nervously to himself. Secretly he'd hoped for more… that he'd come like a knight in shining armour to win him away from his family and set him free… but he had to be reasonable… didn't he? That wasn't the way he wanted to be saw- a common prize that could just be won in a simple game of Duel monsters.

However, when the smoke had cleared, our villain's heart leapt embarrassingly. Both monsters had survived, and now the skeleton was surrounded by a glowing force field.

"What's that?" he gasped, before he could regain himself.

"Oh, you mean my draining shield? Well, I played that just before that Mech attacked me," explained the cunning thief, his eyes once again two dark swirling pools of mystery, set within the ever-changing sea of shadows cast across the pale features surrounding them.

"That's all, then." conceded Ishizu, calmly after she had set another facedown. She had obviously known this was going to happen, but now Bakura had been forced to use up his defence. Was this all according to her plan?

(field overview: Bakura: 2700lp, two monsters- Jowgen the spiritualist, (1600def), Dark king of the abyss. One trap- destiny board.

Ishizu: 4000lp, one monster- Majestic Mech Ohka(2400atk), three facedowns.)

Bakura drew without a word, scanning through the remains of his hand for a second. Marik could feel his throat almost dry after last turn. He hoped his arctic-haired friend could somehow find a way to beat his sister, but also knew the odds of that actually happening were slim to none.

"Don't just stand there, you fool! Do something!" he grumbled, brandishing the millennium rod in his hand so that it's light swept across the pure white of the spirit's mane, obscuring his face. Suddenly our villain became aware of a slight tremor running through both the spirit's shoulders, slight and almost undetectable. He fought to contain it- and as Marik frowned confused on the sidelines, the maniacal laugh clawing for freedom from Bakura's chest escaped, it's raucous sound bouncing wildly from the rafters and rebounding.

"What's so funny?" our villain roared, not sure how his sister stood so calmly through all the tension; it was killing him!- Then again, she'd seen everything that was to happen before it did. Bakura stopped laughing abruptly.

"Since it's my standby phase, another letter of the destiny board gets added," he remarked, as a huge board with letters positioned across it's surface appeared. A disembodied hand positioned the marker above 'I', and this apparently was the queue for it to fade from existence again, leaving behind another bright burst of blue flame, engulfing a slim letter I - company for the 'f'…

"Secondly, I'll sacrifice my dark king to summon a stronger monster too- so come forth! My Earl of demise!" the monster disappeared in a wisp of grey-ish smoke, to be replaced with a slightly larger skeleton, clothed in a suit, and wielding a similar sword to his previous one.

"But that monster's still weaker than hers!" Marik shouted. What was he doing? Losing on purpose?

"I know that, Marik… that's why I'll play brain control!" he slotted a green spell into the disc, shooting our villain a gleaming frown as he did so.

"For a mere fee of 800 life points, I'll take control of your Majestic Mech Ohka! Now obey me, great beast and attack your former master!" he commanded, two hands reaching out from the brain control card to caress the enormous candy-coloured machine lion. It reared up into the air once released by the hands, and released an equally sweet light pink beam from it's gaping maw. This engulfed the calm female figure beneath it, and finally faded away with a few shivering particles, marking the life-point counter drop all the way down to 1600.

"All right!" Marik exclaimed, before he could catch himself. Bakura grinned at him, the sort of grin which clearly exclaimed his competence at being able to dent the life points of a fortune teller. It was warm, instilling a fuzzy contented sort of feeling to creep into our villain's gut. Perhaps there was hope for victory after all.

"Thank you, Bakura! You've just brought yourself one step closer to freeing my brother from your dirty grip, and losing this duel!" responded Ishizu, revealing a trap.

"This is Option hunter! Now I can summon a monster with attack equal to or less than the amount of damage I took… so I'll summon Mudora to the field!" An exodia-like figure appeared from the swirling shadows carpeting the ground, wielding a glowing red dagger in one hand. It's 1500 atk rose steadily until the counter displayed 2400.

"My monster gains 300 attack for each fairy in my graveyard. … So thanks to your hand destruction earlier, there's now a population of three to add to my monster's points!"

The spirit snarled as he laid another card facedown.

"Fine. There you go, fortune teller," he spat. Marik shifted his weight to his other foot again, restlessly. It was getting on his nerves, having to wait through Bakura's pitiful attempts at victory. …He didn't stand a chance really, did he?

"My turn! I send Mudora, to destroy your earl of demise!" she commanded, authority flowing from her voice. The same authority that ordered Marik around. The same authority standing between him and the sweet taste of the other pale teen's lips.

"And I activate swords of concealing light! Go, bathe the field in shadows!" responded Bakura, the same black swords that had saved them back on their way here raining down from above, and forcing Ishizu's monsters into facedown position. He was saved.. For now!

"Fine, then, theif… have it your way. I'll set a facedown before activating- Dark snake syndrome!" the spell came into affect with a flare.

"Why the devil would you play that when I have more life points?" exclaimed the spirit, confused.

"Because that won't be the case for long," she reminded him, as 200 points were drained from both her own and Bakura's.

(field review: Bakura-1600lp, two monsters- Jowgen the spiritualist (1600def) earl of demise(2000atk), three spell/trap cards- destiny board, spirit message 'I' and one facedown.

Ishizu: 1400lp, two monsters- Mudora(2400atk), Majestic Mech Ohka (2400atk), two spell/trap cards- dark snake syndrome, and one facedown.)

"Well, have it your way!" snarled a confused Bakura, as he took his next turn. As soon as he drew, the next letter of his board was added in a flare of light blue fire, 'N'. The three letters flickered unevenly above him.

"Now…my earl shall attack the facedown card on the left!" he chose, and Mudora was ripped to pieces, beneath his card. "And next I'll play shield crush on your Ohka! Hahahaha! …How does it feel to be defenceless against me?" he grinned- wild, beautiful untamed demon once again. A formidable foe in battle, and an even more beautiful sight in his natural habitat… a wash of frosty mane engulfing his shoulders, dark eyes glinting and baby blue jacket billowing in his wake.

"Defenceless? Just like you've rendered my brother? He shall see the light one day, Theif! In fact, what you believe to be romantic feelings he's displaying are nothing more than misdirected friendship, since he was denied the pleasure of male company his own age growing up!" explained Ishizu, calmly and philosophically.

"Sister! How would you know? You're not me!" roared our enraged and forgotten villain, shattering the backdrop of silence. How dare she try to suggest things from his past in front of Bakura like that?? If he wanted him to have known that, he'd have said it already!

…Plus, since when were feelings like these wrong? He wondered, even though again he would not want Bakura to know this. Perhaps when he was pharaoh and this beauty occupied his palace… serving him…

"Marik, I understand you better than you care to accept. I'm very glad you've made a friend, petty theif or not. But continuing to display this unnatural attraction towards him will only lead you further into the dangers that go with it!" she answered, sharply, brandishing the duel disc.

"Sorry to interrupt your heart-to-heart, there, but I summon Gernia!" Bakura interjected sharply, so the focus returned to him and his turn, once again.

"Well sorry to disappoint that as well, but you shall not take away my family-Nor my brother's heart like that! Go, trap hole! This destroys your new monster!" she explained, as the creature just beginning to form on Bakura's field exploded in a fit of white light. The spirit tossed his white mane angrily and laid a facedown before he shot the next demonic stare towards his opponent.

"That's what you think… well go on, then," he prompted her.

She drew without showing any emotion, and slotted in a spell card.

"Firstly I play Monster reborn! Reviving my Mudora!" she announced, but with a wild cackle, was interrupted by her opponent.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I activate skull layer- and by removing five monsters, I'll take your Mudora out of play! Now you can't bring him back, and you've wasted a perfectly good magic card!" he gloated, fingering through his graveyard to choose his five monsters.

"Do you think I never saw that coming? Of course I did; so now I lay these!" she inserted two cards facedown in her magic/trap zone, before ending the turn. Both life point counters took a dip once again, all the way down by 400 points, due to the dark snake syndrome.

(field overview: Bakura- 1200lp, two monsters- earl of demise(2000atk), and Jowgen the spiritualist(1600atk)… four cards in magic/trap zone- destiny board, spirit message I and N and one facedown.

Ishizu: 1000lp, no monsters and two facedowns, joined by dark snake syndrome.)

All of a sudden there was a noise from somewhere, the wild wail of a siren in the distance surrounding the building, and a disturbance somewhere outside the front doors. Someone had come.

"What's that?" gasped Marik, ears perking up immediately.

"That'd be the police," answered his sister, unnaturally calm and unperturbed. Had she just forseen this, or had she called them to prevent Bakura from winning? Marik was shivering in anger, and also of the harsh cool bite of the shadow realm.

"You snake! You called the police on us?!" he yelled wildly in disbelief. How could she do such a thing??

"No, Marik, they simply noticed themselves, I never alerted them. Now, Bakura, if you still want to beat me, then you have not a lot of time. Remember, you should have about three minutes until they find their way in…" she turned back to the duel, and the demonic teen standing forlornly across from her. He weighed up his options. He could either take Marik and run, or stay and try to prove himself as best as he could. But with three minutes and counting, did he have enough skill to muster up what it would take to beat Ishizu?

"Right. Here we go!" He announced, one hand on his deck as he drew- "First of all, the second last letter of my destiny board is revealed!"- short pause as a flaming letter 'A' appeared beside the other letters hovering above him- "And since you destroyed Gernia last turn with a card effect, he comes back to my side of the field, now it's my standby phase!" he explained, pausing for less than a second before continuing- "Next I play the book of life! This handy little spell brings back a zombie monster… so I'll revive spirit reaper! And it's secondary effect allows me to remove Zolga from play!" he commanded, as his two new monsters reared up beside the other pair, already taking the field.

"You'd better hurry, Bakura, I think they're almost in," interjected Ishizu, as Marik leapt. She was right… he could here several male voices raised outside the room, somewhere close… they were cutting it fine, for escape… perhaps it'd be better to just leave now and continue the rematch later sometime… there was plenty of time for such carry on, on other days. After all, Marik had already seen what he wanted to. Bakura could stand up to his sister and hold his own. And granted, he'd need a bit more than that to beat Yugi and Kaiba to get the other god cards, but it had been a start…

"Come on, Bakura! We have to go!" he shouted urgently approaching his friend, but the spirit never moved.

"Go, spirit reaper! Attack her life points directly!" he commanded, instead. The scythe of his monster sliced off another 200 points, before he turned briefly to check the door was still secure. It was, but for how much longer until they were discovered, was still very unsecured. Heavy footsteps echoed all around them, in the corridor outside.

"And next I play sparks, causing another 200 damage," he activated, eyes interlocked with Marik's pale amethyst ones, and movements hypnotically as quick as lightning. Could he win on this last turn or just prove a point? " And lay a facedown. All right, Marik. I'd say it's time to go," he turned around. That was it. It was over… a tie?

Our villain frowned. "I told you, you can't beat my sister!" he teased, unsatisfied but glad there was movement towards leaving. He Didn't fancy having to send a whole squad patrol to the hungry shadows, which still raged momentarily around his shivering body. Ishizu deactivated her dual disc, conceding the tie."Go, you two! Get out of here before they catch you!" she urged. Marik arrived at his slightly taller friend's side, and an arm extended to embrace him affectionately, surrounding his shoulders comfortingly.

"This isn't over, though…" admitted his sister, as Marik reached up towards his friend, the shadows retreating gladly back to the items and allowing the hot evening air, not to mention the welcome heat of Bakura's body against his own, to lap against his cold skin. The white haired teen returned the affection, their lips touching very briefly in a tender display of defiance, before our villain allowed himself to be steered towards the door. He shot a dark glimpse back behind him at his sister, almost to make sure that she had witnessed their gentle little kiss as Bakura opened the door.

There was still the cover of darkness to aid their escape, although the sound of footsteps tramped ever closer. Something suddenly dawned on Marik.

"Sister! What about you?" he asked; surely the police would understand her plight of being in a locked museum at four in the morning as little as they would their own??

"I'll be fine! Go, brother! And remember what I said, the closer you get to your new friend, the closer to danger you get!" she warned, as our villain called desperately through the mind link for the mindslave, the scent of danger heavy in the air; almost as heavy, he realised quickly, as the honeyish scent of Bakura rubbing up against his side.

"Open the door!" he told the man through the rod's powers, sliding around a dark corner and forced seductively yet sensibly, flat against the wall by the pale demon, until they were sure there were no police going to block them.

A dull light of a grey sky in the distance beckoned, the fresh smell of outside flooded the cold passage; their escape was all but assured… they sprinted the last length of corridor, neck and neck… The man in the mind link bowed as they neared.

"It's a pleasure to serve you…" he mumbled, but Marik took no notice. As soon as they were outside, the spirit turned the corner.

"You do still have the keys to that motorbike," he asked, although it was more of a command. Scowling because he hated being told to do anything, he nodded, and extracted the set of keys, jangling them briefly.

"Brilliant…" muttered his friend, leaning to kiss him roughly on the forehead and embrace him in a disorganised hug.

"Let's go…" the police car sat wailing it's sirens desperately; however the vehicle had been completely abandoned, so as our villain and Bakura pounded down the steps towards it, nobody was on their tail. The motorbike lay abandoned down the road a little, which Bakura reached before our villain. He leapt to it's back, one strong leg mounting it…

Marik, although panting from the effort of the sprint, still allowed his eyes to scan the length of his seated friend's thigh. That was how, as he vaulted up in front and jammed the key into the ignition and turned it desperately, that he noticed half of his left thigh was drenched in crimson.

"Ba…Kura…" he panted, revving the bike and throwing his weight into the kickstart, feeling said spirit lean into him compliantly. The wail of the siren was still loud in his ears.

"What?" they tore away beneath Marik's expert steering, the road rushing towards them as the speed dial spun up… the wind tore at them and gravity excelled like the adrenaline rush overtaking our villain.

"You're… bleeding again…" he shot back, the houses flashing past in a blur as he headed for the highway. They passed a blue car, almost skimming it's passenger door.

"Oh… this body can't handle all this.." he grumbled, indicating the host. He was beginning to become unbearable, even when his presence was not directly with them.

"Marik, where are you going? Head back to the hospital, before they notice we've been gone…"

The gas pedal revved desperately, and without even questioning this request, turned onto the highway and headed back to where their journey started out. The spirit, mane billowing fiercely out like a cloud behind him, leaned even further into Marik's back, one arm encircling his waist, the other buried automatically beneath his white jacket and against his exposed midriff.

A slight kiss was planted against his cheek.

"Looks like I got to keep the dual disc after all," he grinned, close to Marik's ear and pressing the dormant sharp machine into our villain's stomach gently.

"Yes, but you still didn't win…" Marik reminded him, the speed dial rising even further. He was rather glad of his skill when handling these machines under high speed. Especially with Bakura being so seductive at this time of the morning.

"No matter what your sister had of done, I would have got not only the final spirit message next turn, but that dark snake syndrome would have taken 800 life points. I could have also added grave robber's retribution, which would have devoured her last 400, and rendering me the winner. …But your safety was more important, anyway…  
Aren't I the gentleman?" Marik could feel the heat of his breath, feel the smile pulling at the spirit's mouth as he rested it against our villain's tanned neck. He had a feeling tonight would prove to be even longer than he'd anticipated.

"No, you're a fool for not taking victory when you could!" he retorted in a yell, above the rush of rogue night air embracing the two figures as they sped off, one engulfed in the other, just the way it should be, by Marik's count, anyway.

"Oh you never change, do you?" A slightly rough bark cut the air. They would be back to the hospital and have done a full circle, in a little under a half hour.

On top of that, the sun had began to spread slightly orangey tentacles of light out from it's bed beneath the horizon to paint the young morning sky pink, and the birds populating the evergreen forests raised their voices to the new day, as the red motorbike rushed past them.  
It was almost the only vehicle on the road, but the two teens were now irreversibly intertwined on the highway of adolescence- the highway of destiny.

**A/n: So! What did you think? It was a tie, but on the next turn Bakura could have won in three ways! ...or at least two.... :D no wonder Ishizu accepted his challenge, she knew he'd have to leave.....**

**So what did you think? Should I carry on writing like this:)? Oh, and for the finals, ever approaching us, who is the one losing finalist...(since I'm not revealing the order I'm going to do....) you would least like to see duel?  
The first lemon scene of the story will take place when everyone's watching one of the duels... and since Marik won't be able to relay what happens, being to... ahem... busy, we can skip their duel. So choose now or forever hold your peace... (out of Mai, Bakura, actually no, he has to be present for his duel!, Odeon or Ishizu??)**

**:D thanks again, remember... reviews help me to update faster, even though I never meant to be this long this time... so Seiri apologises wholeheartedly for making you wait a week to see the duel! Your reviews also helped me to get motivated all over again... so especially to anyone who expressed an opinion... and all my regular reviewers.... Thank you!!! :D Until next time! **


	9. Chpt 8 Crimson sunrise

**A/n: Yes, This chapter contains a nice well-earned little treat of sorts for all my readers.. but not going to spoil what sort of treat *nudgenudge* it is until you read on...! Basically, I needed a chapter to fit in between the sub-plot of the rest of the stuff that happened before the finals, and the bit we just left. (remember Marik's crappy little plans against the Pharaoh which failed miserably?) Yeap, I'll be doing something with that, although it won't be exactly the same as the anime, and will involve Mokuba more, hopefully. I honestly thought it'd start into said plan this chapter, but then the...uh... well, let's just say I didn't.:)**

**Thanks to all my reviewers, but if your screen-name isn't Sun-chan, then you can skip this paragraph and go straight to the disclaimer. If not, then....  
~okay- I'm writing this because I always send really big reviews back to you, usually ones which give details about the next uploads, and stuff.. And I wondered because of your last review, is Planet-kun the one getting my replies?? :D Anyways, because of the new system of the inbox thingy, I think I could reply using that new pm delivery service... anyway, just thought I'd ask, seeing as you're one of the most enthusiastic reviewers out there! And Seiri appreciates that a lot:D........ and your anticipation of theifshipping lemon won't have to wait until the end of the finals, remember I said "the first" meaning there'll probably be more than one of these sorts of chapters in Blackheart yet.:D:D and for that...I hope you enjoy this upload! XD~**

**Disclaimer: Does anyone read these anymore? Mustache! Haha... That's a really random word to write in the disclaimer, but I'm hyped up on sweets... and theifshipping, which hopefully is the opposite.... Oh, and I don't own Yugioh... durr..**

**Chapter 8- Crimson sunrise**

The wind ripped through Marik's blond locks, cool and fierce as he carefully steered the red motorbike in his control towards the hospital. The motorway still stretched out like a tar-smeared red carpet before them, trees standing to line the road, the odd other late-night travellers passing by without a glance. It was as if Marik had just realised on the spot how overwhelmingly exhausted he was. Now that he had finally acknowledged it, however, the sensation had hit him like a tonne of bricks.

"I don't see why you have to go back to that hospital at all," he grumbled to his friend on the back behind him, still dully aware that Bakura's hand was buried beneath his jacket. But said hand was now comfortably the same temperature as his body though, so it wasn't in any way uncomfortable…

"Well they'll send those insufferable fools out to look for us if we don't, Marik. Plus.. It's somewhere private to crash for the night, free of charge…" he added afterwards, pasting another slightly provocative kiss across the length of our villain's jawbone.

"…Remember we still need to meet Odeon to get the locator cards soon. The finals start in less than four days…" Marik returned, his light eyes heavy with tiredness. He'd never stayed up so long in his life, he happened to remember offhand- usually he went to bed before midnight, it had been obligatorily stamped into him since he was a child, and although by rights the little evil genius should be able to stay up all night now, if he wished… but then again, it wouldn't be long before he would fall down as opposed to lying down! It didn't bother him usually, being tired-since he liked to think he wasn't as weak as to need to do such a thing.. But just about now any sort of bed to lie down in sounded very nice, so he wasn't about to attempt to drive back now to the boat he and Odeon stayed in usually… plus he was far too exhausted to argue back.

The hospital was dark, behind it's half-closed chrome gates, and gleaming white exterior when our villain and Bakura pulled up alongside it. Marik kicked out the stand beneath the bike as the rumbling engine slowly purred off into a whisper, and leaned it against it's own weight so that he would not have to bear the brunt of it any longer in his dilapidated, drained state.

"You idiot! Aren't you going to dump that thing, or something? It's a stolen vehicle!" the spirit of the ring pointed out tenaciously, immediately dismounting and withdrawing the hand from under Marik's jacket once the engine was silent. His chest felt unnaturally cold and bare, now it was void of the other teen's heat.

"Well if you're so worried about it, go and throw it over that fence into the woods, why don't you?" our villain's fingers reached out behind him to confirm his millennium rod was still hanging faithfully through his belt hook, as he too dismounted, but much slower and very wearily. He glanced the length of his friend as he stood sourly to one side. Even in the common streetlight, the large patch of darkened crimson creeping up his silvery-haired friend's thigh was just calling out for to be noticed, it's heated colour contrasting heavily with Bakura's white jeans.

"…I would, only it'll cause attention when it lands the other side. …those things aren't light, you know?"

"Who was it who decided to steal it?""Who was it using the Ra-damned machine??"

"Who was it who started this argument in the first place?"

Marik's eyes blazed with the wild fire; the passion of defeat in argument was not something he wanted to be at the mercy of, no matter how cool or ravished by fatigue he happened to be! He would have smiled at his apparent victory, however, that would have given the wrong impression to the disgruntled spirit standing before him on the pavement if he had, arms crossed loosely and weight positioned heavily on his right leg- which caused a seductive bend in his hips to emerge and drew our villain's gaze embarrassingly like a mirror. He hadn't meant to, but feeling a dusting of colour smatter across his face, realised he'd been staring at his friend's crotch now for the past seven seconds.

"Fine," the growl was poisonously filthy; he stared guiltily back up at his pale face lest he had noticed where Marik had been inspecting. He limped slightly, advancing threateningly on the cowering offending vehicle as if it had wronged him greatly in some way. Marik's deep love of these pieces of metal almost caused him to cry out against any cruelty he was to show it, but then a second was frozen to the spot, transfixed as Bakura seized hold roughly of the side of the red motorbike and one of it's handlebar, and with complete inhuman strength yanked it hard and hauled it clear above his snowy white mane, a contorted knot of discomfort transfiguring his porcelain facial features. Marik had never seen anything like it in his life, and now was almost mouthing silently up at the towering weight as if it had just announced it's presidency.

"I suggest you move, Marik…" The spirit of the ring growled darkly, his British lilt lifting the words melodically. Our villain side-stepped compliantly, and still in disbelief, took a few steps backward as he recovered and realised that what his eyes saw was actually happening. He couldn't help glancing nervously up and down the road as well, lest someone came along and clapped eyes on that sight. It was a rather noticeable addition to any hospital corner….

Thankfully, the vicinity was abandoned at this moment in time, the ambulances sleeping silently huddled together outside the entrance of the building like affectionate puppies and the yard was as void and empty of footsteps as the sacred tomb Marik had left.

Meanwhile, the spirit carried the over-sized motorbike to the chicken-wire fence they'd climbed together not more than three or four hours ago without excessive strain and managed to sling it almost two feet in the air, enough to top the crown of said fence and give it safe passage to the leafy grass below, the other side. There was (understandably) an enormous resounding thud, like a restless underground thunderclap which echoed all around the building's parking-lot as the heavy machine came thundering back to earth. Marik winced with the damage that the bike had undoubtedly suffered; his heart twinged momentarily when he realised this was the last time they'd travel on it- and his was still unfixed from the crash, so he might not get another ride on one for a little while. His friend was panting heavily from the massive effort he'd just exhumed, and Marik noticed momentarily that the darkened crimson painting the inside of his leg had saturated a little more of the thick white fabric in the effort.

"Come on, then," he gasped, and without waiting to catch his breath properly, seized our stunned villain's tanned wrist and tugged him towards the seemingly abandoned building. The grass was wet and twilight dew fingered the side of both of their shoes delicately as the two sprinted the length of the green lawn, towards the window of the room they'd left. Marik was reminded momentarily with a scowl of how those strong, pale arms had lifted him and threw him clear of it's sill, as easily as he'd just gotten rid of the stolen bike.

"How do you propose we get back in there, smart-ass?" wondered Marik, as they came to a halt beneath it's white, frustratingly high sill and he glanced up at it, taunting them silently from above. Bakura grinned wickedly, his chocolate gaze swirling wickedly with another plan forming itself in his mind. He crouched slowly onto his haunches, and beckoned with one finger for our villain to approach him.

"Climb onto my shoulders and reach up for the window… it's still open, so the doctor mustn't have come around to check on us…" he commented, good-naturedly. Marik glanced quickly around once again, to ensure they wouldn't be noticed, before doing as he was told for once and putting his full weight onto his friend's shoulders as he stepped up, not even being careful lest he hurt him since the display of strength just a few minutes ago.

"Ow, watch it, Marik!" he grumbled when our villain finally steadied himself by reaching for the wooden sill. He still had no idea how he would manage to arrive inside, since he wasn't strong enough to pull himself up, even though he had both hands tightly clenched around it.

"Hurry up!"

"I still can't reach!" he snapped back, when the spirit shifted his weight around restlessly and Marik could feel it through the soles of his shoes.

"Hang on," all of a sudden he became aware of his stool sliding gracefully out from beneath him, until he was left dangling awkwardly from the sill, a foot and a half above the ground and blind to what his crafty friend had in store to help.

No sooner had he began to run ideas through his head for possible outcomes when an unexpected hand firmly grabbed a large portion of his buttocks, pushing him upward, and he yelped.

"What are you doing, you fool! Why can't we just use the front door?!"

"Shut up, Marik! And of course we can't use the door-we'd be seen! I'm supposed to be sick, so stop moaning and pull yourself up, for Ra's sake!" the snapped reply came. So highly uncomfortable, he managed, with the help of the hand which really was beginning to make him uneasy and uncomfortable, to get both elbows over the window-ledge and haul himself toward the warm, softly lit room. The overpowering odour of bleach and steriliser filled his nostrils, stinging them after the sweet tickle of the night air. Once he was safely standing inside, he leaned back out.

"How are you going to get in, then?" he asked. However the spirit was poised almost six feet from the wall, and our villain yelped and leapt away to one side when his friend sprinted the distance, thudded firmly against the concrete and hauled himself to a crouched position in the middle of the open window, framed by the pale face of the moon in the background.

"…So you're staying here, tonight?" he asked, his breathing once again heavy and ragged, head bowed and giving the fleeting impression of some wild, beautiful wild animal.

"I guess,"

"That means we'll have to share the bed…" a grin pulled at his sharp features, revealing once again the two slim fangs curving down his bottom lip. Marik realised he was once again transfixed by the bloodied patch on one of his exposed thighs, parted in an animalistic crouch, and so forced himself to shun the other with his back in correction.

"As long as you don't punch me in your sleep, or push me onto the floor or anything," Marik stipulated, stretching slightly with a yawn he could stifle no longer and so missed his friend's descent from his perch on the window. For that reason it startled him slightly when two arms curled forcefully around his lower waist and a warm curved body pressed up against him from behind.

"What's wrong... are you tired?" he asked, sensually running the tip of his tongue across our villain's neck. He recoiled when he realised it was the wound his vampire-like friend had inflicted earlier which caused the saliva to sting it violently.

"Tired? Aren't you? I'm looking forward to sleep…" he commented, lids heavy with sleepiness and already not liking where this was going, especially. He became aware one hand belonging to his friend was being inched seductively down between his legs, towards his inner right thigh-so gentle he was scarcely touching the fabric, it was barely whispering across the skin beneath, yet was completed in such a firm and confident manner that it brought about the results that Bakura had been hoping for- it caused a desperate involuntary rush of blood towards his lower body, coaxing him to arousal at a painfully slow pace. Once the heat of the other's palm pressed down against his thigh, more strength was allowed to flow through his fingertips, lavishly stroking around the area.

"Bakura…what are you…"

"When I mentioned staying the night here, whoever said anything about _sleeping_, my dear?" he chuckled, voice deep and playful from somewhere near his ear.

Marik stiffened beneath the taller teen's grip, squirming to get away as he clenched his stomach muscles desperately to try and stave off the erection.

"I'm tired, dammit! Can't this wait, or something?" he grumbled, embarrassed that his voice already lower and gruffer with the strain of stirred hormones. Bakura cupped a hand around his manhood, through the external material, forcing a shuddering gasp to escape from the other.

"That's not what your body's telling me," he stated simply, gazing down to inspect said object from over Marik's shoulder- one eyebrow raised, frustratingly calm and refusing to remove his hand from the stiffening organ.

"Bakura, I give you two seconds to release me before I'm taking control your mind and forcing you to jump back out that window on your head!" he yelped, elbowing his captor violently in the ribs, aware his voice had escaped in a much louder tone than he had presently meant for.

The offending hand slowly but surely trailed back above his belt and across the exposed bronze abs, as hot and light as the series of kisses he then layered across Marik's neck, occasionally sucking and nipping at certain specific spots. The cut still stung as if vinegar had been poured across it.

"Bakuraaaa…." the warning was as genuine as the other hand, which forced his own to trace the outline of his body.

"What's wrong, Marik? Are you still tired?" grinned the crafty creature still pinning him against his front, moving slowly-…moving against him.

"I am! And I warned you…" he managed to shout, suddenly realising he was being steered slowly toward the unmade hospital bed- "I don't like being underneath you!"

The harsh barking laughter of his partner-in-crime startled him, as did the sudden release he was granted.

"Is that all you're worried about?"

Much to Marik's surprise, he flopped down backwards across the bed with one arm lazily slung to one side, his other behind his head. His legs were parted just wide enough for our villain to stand stumped between. He cocked his head sideways provocatively when our villain remained stationary, his mane billowing out around his shoulders like an unholy halo.

"Come on and knock yourself out, then," he grinned with a swirling demonic gleam in his hazel eyes, brought on by the poor lighting in the room. He motioned for the very confused teenager he was staring at to mount him.

At first Marik was wary- something other than what was going on in his pants urged him to take him while he had the chance, but for the most part his brain wasn't working. If only it wasn't almost five in the morning….

Without uttering a word, he rose dominantly over the feminine figure beneath, his neck bending until their lips met. Bakura jerked backwards, pulled with both fangs playfully at his bottom lip.

"Come on, we can be a bit more adventurous than that, surely…?"

With a sigh of exasperation, Marik's head fell forward to the other's pale, long neck. Strangely, even though the icy hue of his mane and skin radiated the image of winter… of freezing cold, the reality of heat and the comforting honeyish smell of him were anything but. He was hot, and the only other thing that ran through Marik's head as he attempted to copy Bakura's example a second ago was that whatever happened, he couldn't do this wrong, or else the pale teen would never let him hear the end of it.

… and it wasn't an awful lot of experience that guided him…

"Yeah… there you go," came the quiet interjection from the beautiful bundle of aromas beneath him, a hand buried in the mass of golden mane hanging around his own shoulders, occasionally pushing him forcefully, making him bite hard, nip and suck roughly at each shove. The other hand was somewhere on his left ass cheek, coaxing the stroke of pleasure to run through him every few seconds, feeding the growing erection. He lifted Bakura's thigh against his hip without raising his head, readying to thrust his own hips against the increasing hardness between his friend's legs…-but something alarmingly moist and warm met his fingertips instead.

He recoiled embarrassingly, bolting up to his knees in surprise on the edge of the bed. Bakura only stared back, patient darkness lustfully swirling in his eyes as our villain stared down at the male beneath him.

"What's wrong now?" he asked, unmoving; yet his British slur displayed no venom, as it had earlier. Our villain inspected his fingers in the half-light, and found there was hot crimson smeared across his palm-Bakura's blood.

"You're.. bleeding…" he gasped, having not realised how hard he was himself until he needed to think- to form words. His friend's face curved into an amused and playful expression as he reached out and siezed Marik's wrist.

"What are you…Ra, Bakura!" he yelped, when the angelic demon extended a tongue, and licked a portion of the blood-his own- from Marik's forefinger, not caring that his fingers strayed too far into the soft, damp cavern of Bakura's mouth. It sent a jagged pulse of near-ecstasy right down his body, almost ripping him in half and embarrassingly he almost came on the spot, a faint whimper betraying his inner struggle. A pair of demonic eyes searched his plight with amusement. He ran a tongue across his fangs, hungrily.

"What's…. wrong with you?" gasped Marik, although his breathing was so irregular and ragged it had to be forced out through gasps.

"Oh, I'm just helping you clean that off… unless, of course you'd like to do it yourself?" he asked humbly, one eyebrow raised suggestively, and completely out of character to anything Marik had seen yet. He moved onto the next finger swiftly, lapping up the crimson liquid but at the same time leaving a trail of saliva in it's place. Was this what he found arousing? …Not that our villain was complaining much… it just seemed sort of crazy, drinking your own blood to get a hard-on…

Marik could think of a _much_ better way than that, only there wasn't anything sharp enough around he could possibly use to his advantage to achieve the results he'd expect…

He yanked his hand away and blood or not, grabbed a handful of mane as he threw himself out across the other, thrusting his weight heavily between Bakura's legs. Marik felt, with a twinge of pride, his friend's back arch desperately into him, and pulled even harder on the handful of arctic-coloured hair he had a hold of. There was nearly no space separating them now save for their clothes, Bakura's back no longer touching the bed, his legs wrapped seductively around Marik's waist…

The darkness was lingering like a cloud of dust at the corners of the room, the small blossom of light licking against the pockets of furniture and items that had not been ravished by shadows. It descended with the rising sun on these two figures, entwined in lust and heated exchange as they fell back to the bed with a thwump. Bakura released Marik, and instead playfully fingered the buckle of his bed, the prominent curve of his sleek waist even more noticeable in this position. But Marik wasn't going to let him away yet-especially after their unsuccessful … and interrupted romp in the back of the van!

He withdrew further away until he was sure Bakura couldn't reach the belt anymore, and then with a single motion swept up the lush blue striped t-shirt to his chin, exposing a porcelain, perfectly toned chest beneath. Two rib-bones protruding towards him created a ripple which flowed downwards toward the button of his white jeans-...beautiful... He could almost have cried out in pain, how little space was left in his trousers, the material crushing him in frustratingly..

"What are you waiting for, Marik?" asked his friend, his chest rising and falling in rapid, shallow breaths.

"Nothing…!" he assured him, bending fluidly until his lips touched the toned white flesh of Bakura's abdomen, caressing it with a series of messy, open-mouthed kisses until he reached his collarbone, leaving a shiny trail of saliva the length of his chest. Even though he was certain he wouldn't be enjoying this half as much as if the roles were reversed, for now this was how it should be…Bakura took a hold of Marik's hips, and forced them against him roughly. Each time he closed his unfocused pale amethyst eyes, our villain could feel his lids becoming even heavier, unwilling to open once again, even to behold the sleek, feminine demon lying _beneath_ him, _at his mercy_…

This time, when Bakura reached for his belt, he could not restrain him- for he'd also made sure to force our villain's head against his chest, towards a nipple. Did he want something?

Almost instinctively, and at the same time as feeling his trousers being slid down towards his burning thighs, exposing black boxers, he opened his mouth and took the nipple in it, barely aware of what was going on. This time there would be no interruption…

Each time he sucked hard, nibbled carefully, he could hear a very low growl, the closest thing to a moan he'd heard from his… er, experienced?.. Friend…  
it sounded like heaven… blood throbbed dangerously at his temples and he fought once again desperately not to come prematurely…

Without lifting his blonde head, Marik fumbled for Bakura's jeans, and helped gladly by his friend, forced them low before breaking away to free himself desperately from the garment.

As he turned back on his knees, eyes heavy with tiredness, he beheld the other fight his own way from the bloodied jeans, unable to keep from noticing the handsome bulge between Bakura's legs as he succeeded.

"You like what you see?" he grinned quickly, opening his arms for Marik to pounce on him, which he did gladly, wondering when the rest was to come off. For his sake he hoped it was soon. No, he'd make sure it was soon...!

Somewhere on his next string of kisses he plastered desperately against the spirit's collarbone, he felt a hand reach beneath the band of his boxers, slide promiscuously across the skin beneath until his fingertips briefly met the already painfully hard organ clawing for release inside.

"...Agh-Kura!!!" he yelped, biting him a little too forcefully as a flood of white-hot ecstacy ripped through him, leaving an imprint of his teeth in the pale flesh. Fearing almost the same as Marik did- for this to come (A/n: Sorry, really bad pun!) to a messy end before due time, he withdrew again slowly, his dark auburn eyes flickering across his face expertly....- however what he was looking for was beyond Marik. Our villain collapsed momentarily against him panting, eyes shut tight and promising to strip Bakura and flay him to within an inch of his life as soon as he caught his breath. Bakura let him rest. He, being the more practised of the two, could wait.

…After roughly two minutes had passed, Bakura slid a hand back down the back of Marik's boxers, readying a finger at his entrance.

"…Ready?" he whispered wickedly, stroking the area tenderly first just to get his attention. But there was no answer, not even the involuntary shiver he was expecting. His breathing had almost levelled off too, still marginally shallow but deeper and more pronounced.

"…Marik?"

Poke.

No answer.

Our villain had drifted too far out into the sea of slumber, sleep taking him in it's wings before Bakura could take something else more important from him. Plan foiled, and realising there was no way he would be getting any sort of sexual fulfilment from _him_ this morning now, he shoved the sleeping form of Marik off to one side with a grunt.

"Dumb blondes…" he grumbled, stretching irritably in discontent, before he was forced to reach down to administer his own kind of lonely relief to the throbbing erection preventing him from turning onto his side to sleep. It wasn't like he had to be careful not to wake the other any more, so being gentle-...even to himself- was out of the question. He was mad, and something was going to pay…

………………………………......................................................................

The movement of something dangerously close to his crotch caused Marik to stir grumpily the following morning. Finally, he opened two hazy pale eyes and raised a ruffled head of golden blond hair to meet the large pools of liquid chestnut regarding him with a questioning glare.

"What?" he deadpanned; it was too early, and the events of the previous night had not fully filtered back yet.

"Y…you've got your leg in between mine," a timid little British voice pointed out, innocently. The host. Just who Marik wanted to have to deal with at this time of the morning!

He realised he was right- this was what had brushed against his crotch seconds ago, and now the cheery blusters of sunrays were pouring jovially through the still-open window to painfully burn the back of his retinas, illuminating the room and it's scattered pairs of trousers lying forlornly on the ground. He yanked his leg back, earning a yelp from the other- and he could soon tell why.

Our villain's tanned upper thigh was now hot and damp with fresh blood, it dribbled down onto the starched white bed sheets as he curled up to inspect it.

"Urgh! Disgusting! What are you? A menstruating pre-teen _girl_ or something?!" he yelled at the hunched form in disbelief. The host scrunched up his shoulders against the harsh tone of the other's voice, a pitiful expression filling his face.

"Wh.. What are you doing in my bed?" he inquired timidly, in the most polite tone he could manage. Marik grumped and turned over, his eyes closed once again. Perhaps if he just shut them, it would all be a dream or something….

"Sleeping! What does it look like, fool?" he snapped back, voice muffled by a mouthful of pillow. Not this morning…

A second of silence followed; still the stunning white-haired host refused to lie down, he was crouched with both legs curled beneath him, including the bleeding one.

"…Would it possibly trouble you to go somewhere else to do that?"

Marik, pause- "Yes, actually, it would. Now shut up and go back to sleep."

"I… I'm not very comfortable with this, at all…"

"Well congratulations, you fool! Neither am I, so shut up! I'm not going to rape you or anything, so just lie back down and leave me alone. If you don't want to touch me, then that's great. …Because I don't want you to either!"

He could feel the two liquid hazel eyes staring on relentlessly, boring into him, until Marik was forced to turn back.

"…What now, you insufferable cry-baby?" he roared hoarsely.

"What did you…do… with the spirit of the ring last night?" he asked, fearfully, timidly. Then Marik remembered the disastrous way he must have drifted off to sleep and disappointed him. Some sort of shame he'd never experienced before invaded his guts. Oh dear Ra…was he punishing him, by releasing the host?

"Nothing. At least as far as I remember," he snapped back sourly, left to stew in his own self-guilt alone.

"…Please, try to remember that's my body too… and, well… I'd appreciate keeping my… you-know-what… for a little longer yet," he whispered hoarsely, his voice receding to little but a breath as he neared the end of his sentence.

"I did NOT take your virginity last night, for the love of Isis! Now shut the devil up, you pathetic host, and let me sleep!" he roared back bad-naturedly before slumping back to the pillows, exhausted. Normally he was a morning person. But right now he felt as if he'd not slept in a week.

Almost the second after Bakura had flinched at the height of Marik's raised voice, the door handle turned unexpectedly, leaving Marik no time to find a hiding place. The two paled.

With a slight creak of admission, a familiar white-coated doctor slid around the door, eying the discarded clothes and the two boys, one lying tousle-haired, the other sitting slouched on his haunches, both in their underwear.

He frowned slightly and chuckled.

"I assure you, doctor, this is not what it appears to be," apologised Bakura sweetly, shaking his silvery locks in embarrassment. Marik was sickened to see there was a slight glaze of pink across his cheeks, and almost yelled out in his bad mood for all the world to hear,

"Yup, just _banged_ your sick patient. It was gooooood, too….We made quite a mess of the sheets as well, and don't worry, I'm very certain although we didn't use protection that he's not pregnant, because he's just started his period. It's all over my Ra-damned leg, for the love of Osiris!" but faithfully forced himself to hold it in, in the vague realisation that it would reflect worse on him in the future and… he may not be able to finish his nap by likely being thrown out onto the streets. Instead, this was what he came up with:

"Yeah, I wanted to stay here to make sure he was okay last night… he was having terrible nightmares…" lied our villain, again transfigured into dedicated, misshapen fairytale character.

"Was I?"

"Yeah… but it's okay now, snowdrop… I scared them away…" he reached up to brush Bakura's icy locks back behind his face, but his hand never made it the full way there.

The doctor cleared his throat, which was just as well, seeing as the host was fixing him in a completely bewildered glare and about to say something about his sudden burst of kindness.

"Yes.. I'm sure you did…Now, hospital rules are certainly against sharing beds- You do realise that? We have a strict policy about people staying overnight here... If you had of approached us, we could have facilitated a room close to Bakura which would be free of charge, of course…"

"Of course… thanks, Doc. I swear I won't do it again. …Now, uh, could we have a minute? I need to get dressed…" Marik pointed out kindly, indicating the black pair of combats taking up floor space to the left of the bed. He was sickened by the way his own voice sounded to himself. So alien… as if the words were not his…

"Yes, certainly…I'll be back in a few minutes to take your temperature, mister!" he bowed out, pointing towards Bakura as if he were no more than a child, shutting the door firmly behind him without further ado.

It took an eternity for that door to close.

"…Now, you say_ nothing_, you hear me, rat?" Marik hissed to the host, as soon as he knew he couldn't hear him.

"…A… about what?"

"About last night."

"But I thought nothing happened?"

"Oh, _something_ happened, all right.."

He leapt to his feet with a yelp, almost as if Marik had struck him, and while Bakura was scrambling around the room looking for something, Marik searched below the pillow lazily for his forgotten millennium rod.

It was there as usual, it lustful golden gleam as beautiful as ever. As beautiful as the wild spirit of the ring…

The host reappeared a second later, clutching a remote. There was now a projector screen on the wall, apparently able to act as a television. He clicked around with the remote expertly, until he found a station bearing news of some sort. Marik only caught a little in his attempt to get back to sleep as the volume was increased.

"..reports confirm there has been one death, one stolen vehicle and two traumatised civilians. The breaking in of the museum of Domino has also allegedly been linked with these incidents.

Another man has been hospitalised, after his wife reports he was assaulted by a white-haired teenager. But the man's condition remains stable, he's perfectly healthy, despite being in a coma- which has stumped doctors to no ends." a woman's voice reported, her tone solemn and formal.

"…Good luck trying to wake him up with no soul," sniggered Marik, in the pause in-between. A pair of large, solemn eyes fixed him in another piercing glare.

"Namu…"

"It's Mar- I mean… I have no idea what that lot was about! So stop looking at me like that, you fool!" he grumbled back, retaining his serious nature.

All of a sudden, he realised Bakura's lip was trembling.

"He… all he seems to do is bring bad karma back to us, Namu! Why did you help him? You mustn't! I don't want another to have to bear the bad karma I do for not being able to stop him!" he gasped dramatically, close to tears once again.

"Aw, shut up and don't start crying again already," our villain mumbled, exasperated as he seized a rough grip of the scruff of the other's t-shirt and surrounded him in a rough hug he didn't mean. He felt the surprised gasp somewhere near his chest, and held the host's white head beneath his chin, hoping he wouldn't struggle or resist and start whinging about Marik being kind.

Anything was better than that runt snivelling again.

"Police have released details of the suspects, now. Both are male, in their late teens and the first has pale silvery white hair. The other is said to be blond, and carrying a gold weapon of some sort at his belt. The police have not made any arrests yet, and if you see the suspects- do not approach them, they are armed and dangerous. I repeat- they are armed and dangerous. If you do spot the suspects, the police are urging you to call this number- 0800.…"

Marik sighed. That spirit _sure_ knew how to show a guy a good time…!

**A/n: heh, did you enjoy their second make-out scene? I tried to make it smexier than the other one.. so do you think it was indeed better? Pity Marik had to fall asleep like a tired child halfway through though and prevented the lemon...:( But now we know what turns Bakura on even more than car engines...  
Anyway, I sincerely hope you did like it, because now I want to tell you the _bad_ news. What, I never mentioned there was any??**

**Okay, well here it is... I won't be _starting_ the new chapter of this UNLESS I get SIX (or seven) reviews for this chapter. I'm not being mean for asking for six, am I? I used to have seven 'loyal' reviewers, actually... But a few appear to have dropped into non-existance over the past few chapters. (please tell me I'm not THAT bad of a theifshipping writer, am I???)  
And so if you haven't reviewed yet, then please do... It doesn't have to be long, even a couple of lines of thought, even if you want to criticise me for _wanting_ six reviews...  
Just think of the PUPPIES!!!!! (or all of the other 50 odd readers it gets in the first 5 hours of updating)... yeay? nay? anything..? _Then_ I'll start the next chap, and hopefully have it up a few days following that.**

**Which one of you wants to wait one whole month for a new update over six measly reviews?? I just need two people who don't usually review to do it...**  
**Anyway, I hope I'll see you all back here very soon! XD But don't worry readers, I will still update monthly (if that) if people are MEAN enough not to review :( :( Seiri never would leave a fic hanging unfinished.... oh, I'm anxious now....:(  
Until next time!**


	10. Chpt 9 At sanity's end

**A/n: All right, I got my 6 reviews pretty quickly, so that means this quick upload was a reward for that. :D (same day as I got the sixth review)And also, I think I need to start getting quicker with the writing if I possibly can. Your reviews motivate me beyond belief! This chapter was necessary, although it's only here as a reminder of other things-plus I wanted to show how Marik is sort of mentally disturbed, anywayXD because he is.  
****The sad news about this one is that Bakura isn't in it an awful lot, so hopefully next chapter he'll be back with avengance. And a big thanks to anyone who reviewed. Read this first, before you judge... I know it's not as eventful aslast time but we'll get these sort of ones out the way quickly, so that the real drama can begin!**

**Disclaimer: I actually feel the need here to make a quick announcement: I don't know how you readers feel about these fics with about five pairings in them, but I personally feel it's a bit unrealistic. Don't get me wrong, that's what being a fangirl's all about right?, but it's just personally I don't believe the whole cast of Yugioh can be gay at the same time, it's just not that common. ^^ so the characters, you're about to see, react like anyone would and aren't all like," oh, this isn't unusual, being gay is the norm!!" I hereby therefore disclaim that any of these are my personal opinions, they are that of the story's characters, and how I imagine the Yugioh cast to react if this actually happened. Oh, and I disclaim I don't own Yugioh, either. ^^ longest disclaimer ever, isn't it?**

**Chapter 9- At sanity's end**

"No, I'm sorry, but we'll have to keep you in again overnight…just to make sure you're really okay…" The doctor was examining the thin wire of mercury populating the hollow plastic thermometer, thankfully below a level that he would find satisfactory.

"So he can't even come for a walk with me? A… around the hospital grounds?" asked a concerned tanned teenager, who didn't even particularly recognise himself any longer, since he had been transfigured into such a kind person. Indeed, as he sat, both legs dangling childishly over the edge of the other's hospital bed, he could think of nothing more than world domination. The sweet bliss of having a say in his own destiny…

"No, I'm afraid your little friend here needs to stay in until we know he's better. Remember, he was very, very sick not so long ago," the white-coated doctor prattled on, pocketing the feeble little thermometer and turning to Marik.

"I…you know, I do feel much better, though," insisted the little British accent of his friend's host, to his right side, sitting cross-legged. The blood from earlier had been cleaned off, and now the wound was tightly bound in crisp white bandage, barely visible under a long stripy t-shirt and the ends of dark navy boxers. Marik, however, was completely clothed again-not having a large bloody patch infecting white cloth to prevent it. He was hoping he'd get a last word to the spirit of the ring before he left to find Odeon, and plan his next move. Since he'd realised that his associate could be fairly fickle towards his attempts of communication- often refusing to emerge, leaving an embarrassing sort of conversation between Marik and the host, who had…. no real notion of what was going on, to describe it rightly. He was simply an annoying pawn, with no real use in our villain's plan…wasting his precious time, now that it was only three short days now before the finals.

"No, no walks today. Your immune system could have a re-lapse, and you could fall sicker than you were before. So no, just take it easy here today. And then tomorrow… we'll see. You took the crash pretty well, but those ribs won't be healed yet, by any means." reminded the doctor, interrupting our villain's thoughts. "And that goes for you too, Mr. Ishtar," he added, to which our villain almost scowled, but caught himself in time and only smiled weakly.

"Of course, doctor…" truthfully, although he had had a few broken ribs, the only sort of pain he was in now was a dull sort of bruising sensation across his chest, and the odd cut here and there, well-scabbed over by now.

Bakura, it seemed, was not quite as lucky. It appeared his friend and partner in crime, the spirit that dwelled within this host's millennium ring whenever he wasn't possessing him, was using some sort of power to try and heal the boy's injuries- this was probably why the doctors had been stumped over his unnaturally quick recovery since the accident. Ancient magic could do that to normal people- _I know that all too well,_ he grinned to himself, lightly fingering one of the sharp tips of the millennium rod wedged between his belt-hook. He hoped the doctors hadn't been watching the news already today.

The television was no longer on, but still our villain was contemplating what would happen in case the foolish police managed to get them before he could get to the finals. He'd have to control their minds and get himself, at least out… still, he planned, he couldn't leave his beautiful friend there to rot in a cell… still, perhaps he could get himself out on his own, but…

"Okay, Namu. Well, don't let me hold you up from getting into the finals," Bakura suggested, a hand daintily laid across the starched bed sheet.

"Not at all, my darling," Marik replied naturally, with a loving grin, pale eyes glittering with a fake sort of affection he was used to donning in these situations since the crash. He almost guessed this may be the spirit once again, disguising himself as his host. Occasionally when he did this, Marik couldn't tell for the life of him whether it was or not.

However either this 'fake' Bakura was good at covering up, or had suddenly developed feelings for our villain despite displaying attributes of being as straight as a streetlight before that, so he guessed his first assumption must have been correct.

"Really, I'll be okay. You've been here for over two days now, Namu… I'm worried. You're family' ll be worried, not to mention your friends. All you do is visit me, you know…"

"That's because I'm so worried about you… I'll never leave your side before you can leave here, at mine. Remember the promise I made to you? I swear I'll always keep it," Marik heard himself invent, absent-mindedly running his fingers over the other's hand, gently. If this was the spirit of the ring, he wouldn't ask what promise. If it wasn't, he'd just dug a hole for himself, and was likely to have to think of something quick to get himself out of said hole.

"Yeah…" they shared a lazy grin, Marik certain now it was the spirit, due to the lack of objection. His host would have protested by now, definitely…

"Okay. I'll go and grab something to eat before I come back. So you be good while I'm gone and rest up like the doc advised you. Then perhaps you can watch me duel in the finals," he suggested, getting slowly to his feet. Bakura remained unmoving.

"Sure thing. See you later," the doctor still hadn't moved, which meant he wouldn't be able to have a proper conversation with the spirit until he came back. He stretched, leaned across to the other, who opened his arms to return the hug and embraced him, the faint dying scent of honey enveloping him.

"…Don't go anywhere until I come back, you hear me? I'm going for a few hours to sort things out, and then we'll have to get out of here." he hissed into Bakura's ear.

"You'd better not be too long," the animalistic growl returned, so low it tickled his inner ear.

"All right, my little snowdrop," Marik smiled out loud suddenly, cupping his tanned fingers beneath Bakura's pale chin, the contrast pleasant to his pale amethyst eyes. Then knowing there would be no harm done, leaned closer to his friend's face until his lips whispered softly across the corner of the other's. A truly gentle sign of affection.

Then a hand embraced his neck, and lo and behold, Bakura returned the gesture. It was nice to snatch some sort of affection from him after the dreadful…erm… _performance _he'd put on last night, since it didn't take his future-predicting sister to suggest that the spirit would be unwilling to repeat it any time soon. The tone of his voice when he answered him was enough to betray that.

As soon as their little show was over for their one and only watcher, he straightened up, the fake glistening excitement and nervousness swirling in the auburn hazel of Bakura's dark eyes as he scanned the expression of the doctor caught his attention. So he pretended as well to reluctantly turn in apology for their public display of affection he'd insinuated, only to see the doctor chuckling once again.

"How old are you, Mr. Ishtar?" he asked with a gentle tone, suddenly. Why in the name of Isis did he want to know that?

"I'm sixteen, sir,"

"And you, Bakura?"

"...Same, sir, just back in September," his friend answered sweetly, almost appearing sheepish and guilty for admitting he was slightly older than Marik- the heavenly white fringe masking two shivering dark chocolatey eyes.

"You two are something, all right. Be good to each other… you're so young yet, it'd be a shame for anything to happen after all this.

…for two sixteen year-olds, I have to say you sure are dedicated, though…" the doctor replied, turning back to his still-poorly patient, who was doing his best to appear blushing.

"Age is but a number, since love knows no bounds," reminded Marik, even though he almost gagged at how mushy it had sounded. Thank Ra he'd heard that sappy saying somewhere along the way.

"Indeed," replied the doctor, mysteriously.

………………………………......................................................................

Ten minutes later and Marik was pounding down the street, trying to keep the rod at his belt hidden least someone would recognise him from the description on the news. The sun was out in a wild blaze of glory, it's strength and heat caressing his nicely tanned skin gently at first. However, after about fifteen minutes, in which he was forced to board a train to get back to the city, it had left him hot, uncomfortable and slightly sweaty. The man at the desk who'd administered the ticket had been old and balding, and adjusted his thick spectacles to get a better look at our villain. Had he noticed the resemblance he bore to the news? …Marik hoped not. He was blind enough to have been mistaken, he tried to remind himself. He felt under pressure for time, too, since it was already after midday.

On the train, he sat by himself in a corner throwing a sultry glance over at the other inhabitants of his carriage, hoping all of the other passengers would find some excuse to disappear and let him contact his rare hunters. He was aware they'd been silent for too long, and didn't want the Pharaoh to getting a false sense of security. (Plus, could they guess that since the accident, since there hadn't been any attacks he'd instigated…would they put two and two together…?) The sun was beaming down into a pool of golden cornfields beyond the glass as they rocketed past, the handsome stirring of the wind across their heads reminding him of the rippling sea, and his own bed which sat waiting aboard the private boat he and his closest servant Odeon owned, right at this minute….

Even since the disastrous night of sleep he had managed to snatch in the same bed as his associate (he did have a few new tender patches of bruises since then, he had noticed), he still was in danger of drifting off here and now. Perhaps he'd go and catch some shut-eye back at the boat, when he arrived…?

He was very bored and unstimulated, curled up in the corner against the plastic seat with his knees drawn to his chest. This made him appear much smaller and less conspicuous than normal, and even the other passengers seemed not to be able to relieve his boredom if he were to sit here and watch them.

One was a young woman with earphones, far too busy to even notice our villain since she was in the possession of a dreary looking novel her nose was buried in. She tapped her foot absent-mindedly to a tune Marik couldn't hear, not that he really enjoyed the stupid music teenagers seemed to listen to nowadays anyway. Another was a man in a suit, obviously a business worker coming home for lunch after doing nothing all morning. He had a newspaper, and was attempting to complete a crossword in it. However, it appeared he was not going to be doing that anytime soon- Egyptian god of the underworld, six letters. Come on, everyone knows that, Marik sighed in exhasporation, rolling his eyes and going back to inspecting the company he had.

Another couple of teenagers were chatting eagerly about something in the far corner. One was a girl, young by her posture and height, and he could just about make out very long, loose auburn hair spilling like a fountain down her lower back. It was far longer than even Bakura's, and perplexed him slightly; he'd never seen hair that long in his life. This girl was speaking fluidly and without halting to a rather familiar-looking teenager sitting opposite, which our villain could see the face of. He was transfixed to his little female friend, a stupid sort of grin creeping across thin features in the shadows, pointed and narrow... Marik was sure he knew this boy…..

Of course! It was one of little Yugi's friends, one of the stupid associates of the golden-haired one-…Joey. There was something unmistakeable about this Joey he longed to use… some sort of inner strength he longed to turn against the Pharaoh's vessel. But was this his way in?

He got hastily to his feet to go and instigate conversation, pins and needles rushing angrily into one ankle which he gave a frustrated little shake. Perhaps it'd pass the boredom somewhat if he were to speak with them.

"Hey! I know you!" he grinned, donning his fake personality once again as he approached them. The male he recognised glanced up immediately. At first his face remained blank, then his dark eyes lit up with recognition.

"Hey! It's Namu! How are you feeling, man? How's Bakura?" he asked, excited. Marik noticed there was an assortment of fast food containers littered across the seat beside them. Up close the girl _was_ young, and had a thick white bandage covering her eyes, but this didn't mask the smile creeping onto her face.

"Who's this, Tristan? Another of your friends?"

"Er, yeah! Remember I told you Bakura was in an accident?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, he's the guy who hit him…. No, but it's not like that, he's stayed with him every day since then, making sure he's okay. I've never seen anyone so kind in my life! Perhaps other than Yugi," an innocent laugh was injected.

_Yes, laugh while you can! Soon there shall be no laughter when I annihilate that blasted Pharaoh and all he holds dear!_

"And my brother?"

"Yeah, Joey too…"

Marik stood forgotten, clinging to the metal pole to stave off the shuddering sideways motion of the train. The stifling heat tickled his midriff, and he was slightly glad of the lack of material covering it.

"So, you guys heading down to Domino?" he asked, to try and catch their attention.

"Yup, Serenity here wants to go and see her big brother duelling in the finals," Tristan enlightened him, proudly. Marik suddenly got the impression he was attracted to her. He was no expert at wooing women, but it didn't happen to strike him as going particularly well. He grinned; he supposed he'd stick to Bakura… he was prettier than most women, anyways…

"That's great, who's your brother?" he brushed a few of the empty food cartons to the ground and perched himself on the edge of the seat. "Say, are you going to be meeting Yugi and the others, later?"

"Yeah… that's the plan anyways. This is Serenity, Joey's gorgeo-I mean, lovely younger sister! You wanna hang out with us when we get here, Namu? How's Bakura, by the way?" asked the dark-haired man, finally taking his eyes off of Joey's sister.

_His sister... perhaps she'll come in handy, too?_

"He should be getting out tomorrow, actually," Marik told him; that much was true, anyways.

"Aw, wicked! You two can come and watch Yugi and Joey in the finals, too!" he laughed.

…_Laugh while you can, you fool! Soon there will be no laughing! The only one who's going to be doing so, will be me when I acquire the two other god cards, the puzzle and am ruling the world!!_

"Great!"

Almost another half-hour he was forced to sit and listen to this girl- Serenity's sob story about being blind until an operation, Marik forced occasionally to add the odd pleasantry here and there. But to him it was just a way of passing the insufferable journey. He could have taken to sleeping, but then he might miss his stop and end up in some further town, past domino's one, which would not put him in good form in the least, not to mention further wasting his time trying to get back.

"So did you and Bakura just meet after the accident?" she asked, a while later, pulling Marik from another weak daydream.

"Yes… I'm almost glad we had the accident now," he explained.

_Almost… but if that fool hadn't have almost had me killed, then perhaps I wouldn't have another mindless puppet working against Yugi for me! …still, if he hadn't have almost got us killed, then perhaps I wouldn't have acquired such a beautiful associate for company. He's mine, all mine! Hahahaha!_

The train pulled hastily into Domino shortly after, with the woman's voice announcing over the intercom about where they were and to 'please mind their steps'. As soon as the doors had opened, and a splash of fresh air invaded the hot passages of the train, he leapt to his feet.

"Aren't you going to help us look for Joey?" asked Tristan, before our villain had ran away completely.

"Sorry… I have a few things to take care of first, and besides, I promised Bakura I'd get back to him as soon as we can. Every time I leave him on his own like this, I really worry about him."

"Aw, I understand. You guys miss each other. That's so romantic, Bakura's such a lucky guy, to have someone who cares about him so much. It almost makes me feel lonely…" he glanced quickly towards the girl, who when standing barely reached his shoulders. She, being blind, did not notice his affectionate look. "Okay, let's go Serenity,"

"I'll see you guys later, though! When he gets out!"

"Sure thing, Namu! Tell him the gang says hi!"

Marik turned away, and was ready to sprint off through the crowds, when he heard the young girl's awkward question and turned back. Surely he had time to see what his response would be? Tristan had his hand against her shoulder protectively, steering her through the receding lunchtime rush.

"…Tristan, are those two boys you were talking about in love, or something? Um…gay?"

"Yeah they are. You could sort of tell though… well. If you met Bakura, you'd know what I'm on about,"

"Oh. …And the other one… Namu?"

"They suit each other, y'know? It's great Bakura finally has a true friend- someone to keep him company."

"Didn't he have before?"

"Well…he did hang around with us sometimes, but… there's just something weird about him… it makes people feel really anxious, I just can't explain it, really…"

"Is it because he's gay?"

"No! Of course not… Well, I don't think it is, anyway…"

Marik almost snorted the vomit he was holding back out his nose. _Oh, if only you twats knew what was really going on with Bakura…!_ he grinned to himself, eyebrows clenched together as he picked his way through the crowds, taking roads he was certain of without even thinking… _If only you knew the Bakura I do, then you'd know why you feel so edgy…_ that was because he felt edgy around him too. An edgy feeling he particularly liked, one which usually gave him an extra prideful jolt every time something went right, but sadly an extra-hard knock when something went wrong…such as last night…

Why in the name of Ra did he have to fall asleep…? For one thing, he'd never had sex with anyone, but considering the manipulative, cunning…er…_horny_ sort of individual this proud, handsome demon happened to be, he knew no matter how possibly terrible he could be in bed himself, falling asleep like a Ra-damned child up past it's bed-time was a well-worse crime to have committed. Hopefully he'd get to make it up(or out?) to him… but only after he was Pharaoh. (What? He can't be as easily distracted by mindless human instincts he was unaccustomed to anyways, when there was a whole world waiting for a new king to be appointed, surely??)

.....................................................................................................................

The boat was just as he remembered it, when he arrived solemnly at the docks, bobbing innocently atop the waves with it's creamy hull awash with the shimmering light water-reflections kissing it's way across the expanse.

"Odeon!" he yelled; he wanted no time delay, for a nap was in order before he returned to Bakura.

"Odeon!"

A balding head appeared from the boat's doorway.

"Yes, Master?"

"Where are the locator cards? I have a new plan, and I must give Bakura his if we are to make the finals anytime soon," he answered, leaping to the hull and climbing over the railing expertly.

"If I may ask…where did you get to, last night? You never returned,"

"I slept with Bakura," as soon as he had uttered it, he realised what he'd said.

"...Not like that, you idiot! Look, we went to the museum, too. Did you know that fool of a sister of ours has come to town?" he grumbled, following the tall, caped servant into the first room inside the ship. It was large, spacious, and contained a single table surrounded by black swivel chairs. He immediately threw himself back into one, lifting his feet to the table's surface.

"Indeed, master. I saw it on the news. Was that anything to do with you?"

"You better not be questioning my judgement, like that stupid sister of mine! Not only is she prattling on about how I shouldn't be stopping the Pharaoh, she told me that being around Bakura was dangerous too!" he stormed, hand propping him defiantly up on his cheek.

Odeon was silent for a second.

"Master is young and usually knows best… and I beg his forgiveness in advance, but in certain circumstances your relationship with this Bakura may well be dangerous," he then commented. Marik scowled darkly, extracting the rod now he was not on the street where he could be noticed easily. He turned it once in his hand, examining it, wondering what his servant was going to lecture him on this time. Boys? Was it because he wanted to kiss a boy, like his sister warned him against?

"Oh yeah? And what are those?" he asked, choosing not to look directly at him to show him he was not approving of this development.

"…Has Master become…intimate… with him?" he dared to ask. Marik could now see the top of his shiny bald head, half enshrouded by tattoo as he knelt before him.

"What do you think I am? I'm not 'intimate' with him, if I was, he might figure out my plan!!

…….why?"

"When I saw him kissing you in the graveyard I assumed… especially after you just said…"

"Assumptions are dangerous, I suggest you remember, Odeon! You think I slept with him, in the way the common young folk mean, don't you?" Suddenly Marik felt really angry. He couldn't explain it, really… it was like it had touched some raw nerve inside him and the fury bubbled up like a volcano ready to erupt.

"I…"

"Well I didn't, okay! Now where are those locator cards??" he ordered, his voice raised in a rough bark which reminded him briefly of his white-haired friend back at the hospital.

"…I believe you, Master Marik. I just wanted to…advise you about the risks, that's all. Here are your locator cards, as you requested." he extracted a bunch of transparent plastic cards from inside the lush, navy cloak. Marik briefly wondered if his was anywhere around.

"What risks?" he snapped, snatching them from the heavily tanned outstretched hand to inspect them further. Apart from some sort of controversial topic that everyone seemed to frown down upon for a reason beyond Marik, he could think of no further danger, apart from the spirit of the ring outsmarting him… and he could assure anyone, that was not about to ever take place.

"Master understands… there are diseases associated with that sort of behaviour, curses from the great gods that can take one's life. Just like your sister- we only worry for your safety, Marik…"

Our tired villain had not the time nor the patience for this nonsense right now. If they wanted to believe Bakura was infested with all sorts of deadly diseases and all these mysterious plagues nobody has any names for in the vague hope that it would prevent Marik from being around him, then that was their problem. He was as beautiful as the summer sun sweeping low over the golden sand of Egypt, and there was no way he had any sort of contagious illness… the hospital would have discovered it!

He didn't have time for this!

Marik got to his feet, startling his companion and servant.

"Believe what you want, Odeon. But I'm not in the mood for this nonsense! I got no sleep last night, and I want to take a nap before I tell you my new plan," he huffed, heading for the downstairs bedroom.

"Of course master," came the reply. He did not pick up the slight sarcasm in the deep voice of his servant, luckily.

He was asleep almost before his golden head hit the pillow, changed into much cooler clothes to comfort him while he slept.

The locator cards stared innocently over him from the dual disk, sitting unused on the dresser beside his bed, the small data chips they contained watching over the sleeping figure as he tossed around in sleep.

_He was dreaming something amazing from what he remembered…_

_There was a yellow sail contrasting deftly with a blue sparkling ocean before him, the weary sun dipping it's rays shyly into the cool waters in the distance. There was a figure approaching, who had hair as white as the frothing heads of the waves, the frothing, arctic foam…_

_It all began to dissolve, the scene, until he was sitting in the driving seat of a porche. The top was off, and the wind ripped his blonde hair back desperately as he drove along the road. The arctic mane of Bakura was visible beside him for a flash, until suddenly his head bent and dropped to his lap. Next thing he knew, the button of his tight jeans was being yanked down by two animalistic fangs, the heat of his friend's breath against his bare skin…_

_He lost control of the car, when a rush of pleasure ran down to the offending area. He hit a post, was jerked backwards, and everything went black. Then he could feel himself coming around, becoming closer to consciousness._

_Everything dissolved once again, until all he could catch were desperate flashes in amongst his fighting consciousness. Perfectly pale flesh entwined with his own tanned variety… the flush of a light blue duvet as it was thrust off… another rush of pleasure, like he'd never known in his life- a knife, jagged and almost blunt from use, flashing in his palm.. The hot effort, resulting in crimson streaking the pale and dark… intertwined forevermore… the gleam of a leathery strap, broken metal biting at raw flesh...then the froth of white against the tan, as the waves of the blue, blue ocean… the creamy foam of their insanity, mixing…_

All of a sudden, our villain's eyes sprung open, and almost immediately he yelped and was forced to jam a hand down his boxers to contain the erection he instinctively knew had formed… rather glad that he'd opted to half-strip. Stupid dream…

Now the blankets had decided to stand too many inches above their usual place-or more specifically, they'd been hitched up cruelly like a circus-tent by a certain over-excited body part of his.

"Stupid dreams!" he roared to nobody in particular in his exasperation, almost setting to attacking the raised covers in his rage as an involuntary rush of white-hot ecstasy ran down him and he gritted his teeth against it.

This wasn't a completely new body reaction, in fact this sometimes happened for no real good reason, these dreams. But what annoyed him even more as he rose and stumbled towards the en-suite, was that now he did have a reason, and he could no longer blame it on random teenage hormones.

Bakura...

At least it wasn't another nightmare… but still…

He managed to hit the shower to go on as hard as it could, before he sunk to the ground and gasped with another rush of stirred hormones.

"Dumb dreams, why can't you help me think of plans, instead of wrecking my sheets?!" he roared at the offending organ, still staring him down confidently. Sometimes, when caught in this position, he was happy to help the whole process along by hand, he knew quite well his limits, but today and now, there was no way he was going to give Bakura the satisfaction of knowing he was happy to masturbate over him. No, the great Marik Ishtar does not bend this low! (A/n: no pun intended here, or anything... er… yeah…anyways…) He'd always instinctively reached for the shower, usually just to drown out any strangled cries he couldn't hold back, but in this turn of circumstances…

The force of the freezing water-droplets numbed his back, as he suddenly leapt halfway out into it's jet.

"Holy Ra!" he yelped; it plastered the dark t-shirt he'd slept in to the maze of scars patterning his back with just as much force that had drove him to this room in the first place, and ran down his golden mane, colouring it the dirty yellow it became when wet. The cold chilled him, numbed out the next rush of frustrated pleasure which leapt like electricity inside him.

_I bet the Pharaoh doesn't have this problem,_ he thought angrily, gritting his teeth and watching his knuckles pale as he dug his nails into the tub's rim against the cold. It was past numb; tiny rushes of pain prickled his scarred back in between from the sheer frigidness of the water. It was having the right effect that he'd hoped for, calming the bulge below at his crotch, even though he now would have to waste time drying his hair, and changing into dry clothes. At least as he sat crouched with his head down, he had managed to deny himself (and Bakura, who never would have known in the first place) the pleasure of the act he could have committed.

He finally stopped the water, victorious although he felt no rush of pride associated with triumph and bent double dripping, with the edges and front of his long baggy t-shirt bone dry but his hair and most of his back and sides soaked, gasping for breath.

"That'll be the last time you choose to disobey me! Nobody disobeys me!" he shouted furiously to the offending organ, now orderly once again and quailing before his livid stare, as water from his hair ran down his face. He pulled off the shirt next, and used it to soak up some of the water in his golden hair.

_This is just not my day, is it?_ he thought, sourly, strolling back to the room, only to find someone burst into the room. Odeon was framed by the open door, panting after running from somewhere.

"M…master…are you all right? I heard you shouting!" he asked, at the sight of the bedraggled teen.

He whipped off the t-shirt and fired it across the room, and tantrum not satisfied that easily, gave the waste-paper basket the hardest kick he could, sending it flying towards the opposite wall.

"Leave me alone!" he yelled above the noise of it colliding with the wall and shedding it's contents; mood swings he considered to be his strong point. However the figure of his closest servant didn't move, much to his annoyance. He was used to this sort of unstable behaviour.

"No, I wasn't drinking from the toilet, if that's what you think!" he stormed randomly, throwing himself back on the bed. These sort of 'episodes', while not completely common, did always leave him confused and full of strange emotions he'd never had to deal with before. Why they happened…? No, it usually helped, if there was an explanation.

But he still locked himself into the bathroom alone with the shower on for hours afterwards, feeling shamed, alone, broken…

And now if that happened to him over Bakura, it was fine if he were awake and actually with him. But alone, pretending… it seemed horribly wrong, somehow… and now he'd even denied himself a couple of minutes pleasure at least, he felt even worse than if he had.

"Get out!" he screamed, picking up the vase and lobbing it over his shoulder at the door. He heard the slight tinkle as it exploded against the wall, but still Odeon did not leave.

"…Would you like to talk about it?" He made his way over to the bed, and seated himself very lightly on it's edge. Every time our villain had an 'episode', or another nightmare, or anything, he always said the same. 'Do you want to talk?' If he did, he would have done so already!

"No I don't! I need to call the rare hunters and get the new plan into action!"

"What is this new plan, master? I can start preparations and move ahead with it, if you inform me first…" his voice, to our villain seemed almost to be patronizing him, chastising him to fight(while in reality it was soothing and full of calming warmth)… but finally Marik succumbed, and sat up. His semi-wet hair had fluffed up horribly, and framed his head like the unruly bristles of a brush.

_Great. Now IT wants to disobey me too…_

"All right, I'll tell you the main details now, but I must be getting back to Bakura very soon… It's Mokuba- Seto Kaiba's brother I want. And as many of Yugi's pathetic friends as you can muster up. After you've successfully done that, I'll take it from there,"

**A/n: Hmm, I personally think it's one of my crappiest chapters yet, but no worries, I'll make up for it hopefully next time:D  
Poor Marik, and his little 'episodes'! ^^And Odeon, trying to give him sex education out of nowhere! I've given him some problems, you'll have noticed, but they sort of add to or explain why Marik acts so strange in the anime, hopefully. :D And the train journey.. poor BakuraXD Did you like Marik's little inner dialogues, by the way? I don't think I've done that before, but it sort of fits the mood of this chapter... doesn't it? Should I continue?**

**Okay, as with last chapter, The quicker I get the six reviews, the quicker I start the new chapter and leave this (kind of) boring one behind! Seiri wants your feedback!(I also have Monday off from school(woohoo), so as long as the reviews come, I'll do my best with the immediate updates, okay?)**

**Until next time!**


	11. Chpt 10 Problem's coming revised

**A/n: This is the REVISED version of this chapter, and I have added a large chunk of new material towards the end.**

**Quite frankly, Seiri was disappointed with the lack of detail toward the end, (where it counts) and although originally she was going to wait for the end of the story to go fix it, since she's still waiting on ONE MORE REVIEW to start the new chapter, and didn't want to leave a week without updating, I've decided to fix this now instead of later.**

**So for you readers who were confused when you got the message of the update, only to see no new chapter, this is why. I will not be doing this again, it's a one-off thing.. I'm happy enough with all the other chapters. The new bit begins toward the end, in that nice scene with Marik and the net. :D**

**Come on, peoplez! Just one more review...! Surely there's someone out there nice enough to give it? Because remember, I'll only start the new chappie after all six are in, and if I don't get it.... I know I said I'd leave it a month, but to be honest, after that amount of time, without any reason to continue, Seiri will just not write this story any more. The week gap is also sort of difficult, let alone longer than that... so if you like, PLEASE review. And if you don't.... I'd still like to know.**

**Disclaimer: I own no beverage store chains, nor do I own Yugioh. As the anniversary of 10 whole chapters of Blackheart(and an intro), enjoy this chapter to the full! :D :D **

**Oh, and this is a CONTENT WARNING XD XD ...watch the Yaoi. It could be too much for some. (there again, others will disagree and say it wasn't as thorough as it could have been. Don't worry, I know that... )So those who feel the need to vacate the premesis, then do so NOW. Otherwise, enjoy. It's still longer than normal now I have added much-needed details..XD by about 3000 words excess if not more...**

**Chapter 10- Problem's coming (revised)**

The magic of a millennium item activated… a light glow briefly illuminated tanned features as he searched out through the nothingness of higher conscience for the right mind to descend upon. Plenty presented themselves from the surrounding areas, but this impatient person waved them away angrily. He was looking for a certain handsome, snowy white presence, not the tainted, murky souls of mere mortals.

Finally he caught a flash of this prized soul, and descended like a hungry eagle on a rotting carcass. He was in.. he could sense it...

The spirit of the ring was surprised to see Marik in this unlikely way, two chocolate eyes searching his apparition. Truthfully, our villain found it a tiresome way of communicating, an unsettling feeling, being so far from one's own body and also, just plain bothersome to have to provide a 'solid' form once he arrived.

"What do _you_ want?" a familiar British snarl inquired from the nothingness. Finally there was a spark of light from near him, and Bakura appeared in physical form. Marik couldn't help but stare around at the empty soul boundaries surrounding them. That little corner in one's mind that should not take up much room. Usually our villain was also very used to cramped conditions in this sort of method of communication… that is, if he even had to stick around this long. But this place… it was like the endless deserts of Egypt. There _were_ no ends… it just expanded on horribly…

"I want to ask you for something…" Marik chanced, to distract himself. He could see the spirit very clearly in front of him now and anchored himself to the image; he was almost exactly the way he would have expected to see him in real-life, dressed up in the same clothes his host wore, pale mane launching down his back in jagged points, dark eyes capable of searching someone's very soul…

Somehow when our curious villain had decided to contact him like this instead of having to physically travel back to the hospital, he'd expected him to look… different, somehow. As if he was really a shadow who chose to possess that pitiful boy… he'd got a flash of inspiration while working on his plan with Odeon, while he'd been making sure the last of his temper tantrum had been spent. Perhaps for it to be a way to see the real Bakura he cared so much for… he knew he shouldn't be so disappointed that he looked exactly the same, for so did he in this soul room. It was just another idea which had ended fruitlessly.

"I need your help…" He repeated, aware that it sounded pitiful out loud, he realised with a jerk of pride.

"With what, getting back to sleep?" grumbled the reply immediately, sarcastic. Bakura's apparition had his arms folded defiantly, a thin smile parting his lips.

"No, you fool! My plan against the Pharaoh! You promised to help me earn the two remaining god cards, remember?" His voice echoed loudly in the nothingness, and our villain was glad there was no-one else around who could hear their conversation, apart from the host Bakura, even though he'd seen no trace of him here yet.

"Oh I remember that, Marik. Just as clear as I remember you passing out like a baby last night," came the reply. Our villain found himself struggling against his temper once again. He _knew_ it'd been a huge mistake to have made, but there was no way he could now reverse time and change the whole chain of events, was there?

"Shut up! So what if I fell asleep? Maybe you should stop looking at me for faults and take a look at yourself! How boring must you have been for me to actually get time to drop off?" invented our crafty villain. He would not be bested in an argument, especially one which he would certainly be losing had he not have shifted the focus onto his opponent.

"Oh there's nothing wrong with me," replied Bakura calmly, "If you want me to help you, then you need to help me." His confidence offended our villain. How was one to know if they were any good in bed, unless they had had enough practice…?

"Fine, I'll give you my rod, after I beat Yugi," offered our villain, glancing down at it's sprite in his hand. Even if it let him speak momentarily with his friend like this, he found this method of communication very unnerving. Especially here- he couldn't even sense the presence of the host Bakura in the soul wasteland, it was so unnaturally large.

"That's a nice offer, but that's not the sort of rod I had in mind," his friend insinuated with a white eyebrow raised suggestively.

Oh.

_Oh…_

"What's wrong? Can't control your hormones?" Marik retorted; he was rather glad he was being given a second chance, but right now sex was understandably not the first thing on his mind.

"I can control myself fine, unlike some of us," came the answer, a filthy glare piercing his soul. "However, I do require the _millennium_ rod too, which I'll claim along with your virginity, after you have gained what you want. But I suggest you remember that I grow impatient, and I won't wait forever before taking _both_ by force," The growl was as venomous as the deadliest scorpion sting- Bakura was very serious, and although Marik didn't class himself as being intimidated, after his obvious show of physical strength regarding the motorbike, he made sure not to get into a brawl with his associate.

"Fine, whatever… Okay, this is what I want you to do…."

………………………………...................................................................................................................

It had been almost three and a half hours ago he had contacted the spirit and given him the instructions, so Marik was quite surprised to be hearing back from him so soon. Extracting the vibrating cell from his back pocket and flipping it up to is ear, he frowned. Was there something wrong?

"Hello?"

"They let me out," the line was bad, but the wind ripping into his British accent couldn't mask them words.

"What?? You're out of hospital already? But I thought we'd agreed I was coming down to get you!" our villain grumbled back. He was mad, but didn't trust himself to express it in his current surroundings without drawing attention to himself. He was in the centre of a busy Domino street, his millennium rod hidden safely in the leg of his trousers. Nobody would recognise him, right?

The shop to his right was just beginning to open, and a man was hauling back the shutters and unlocking the door. Marik gave him an instinctively wide berth.

"Hmm, that annoying doctor was inquiring about you. I told him there was a delay in traffic and you'd be late, but I wouldn't have to wait as long to see you if I started walking down to meet you now. The sucker believed me, too. So here I am; there's a few hours to kill before your plan comes into effect… So we still have that um… matter… to attend to. Would you like to repay me now or would you rather go window-shopping?"

Marik almost snorted into the phone. Window-shopping or sex? That wasn't really a fair decision!

"How about you meet me in Domino square when you get here, _snowdrop_," he hissed back, and hung up. If his own journey was anything to go by, he'd only have a forty-five minute wait. The sun was already high into the sky; there were plenty of duellists out in the morning for a last ditch attempt to qualify for the finals, so Marik had slipped out into the crowds donned in his dual disc. This may have been a risky manoeuvre on his part since he was twice as likely to be challenged, but it was easier for him to blend into the rest of the other teenagers if he resembled them. He hoped to goodness Bakura had his, too.

He headed through a back alley towards the square, avoiding a stray cat who decided to take a liking to him.

"Shoo!" Marik liked cats usually, they were special back in Egypt… but they just weren't so scraggy as the ones over here. This one was a bony skeleton of a brindled grey moggy, white tips covering it's ears and three of it's paws. It bolted at our villain's towering mood.

He reached the square in plenty of time, and was forced to sit beneath the clock and observe all of the shops opening their doors to the public, to pass the time. In this time he began to ponder exactly what sort of window-shopping the spirit of the ring had in mind.

What would someone like him want to look at, anyway? (He was not really keen on the idea of indulging in carnal pleasures when he had god cards to win. Perhaps later…)

The participators of the tournament were still crawling around the square like a swarm of insects, and groups of youths were standing around them in threatening clusters, eyeing him tenaciously for daring to sit alone.

He really hoped Bakura would hurry up.

There was now only two days left before the finals, two days in which Marik hoped not to have to even enter, anyway. He wanted the two god cards, and the puzzle in one go, and as long as his many rare hunters didn't fail at kidnapping the exact people he'd specified, then he'd take care of all that today.

…And in the unlikely event of his failing? Then he'd get to spend the duration of the finals with Bakura, who was secretly going to get him what he wanted anyway. Not a bad second option.

For almost the hundredth time, Marik found himself looking at the rounded clock above him. Ten minutes left… Ra, did time stop or something…?

He finally whittled away the last of these by ridding the little bush on his left of leaves, and pulling little chunks from each leaf until he'd stripped it bare. Not a very satisfying activity to indulge in, but one which helped the minutes crawl by until Bakura arrived considerably.

Finally a familiar white mane appeared in the crowd, and coming under heavy scrutiny by the group of teenagers, Marik leapt to his feet and began to sprint towards him, realising he was running too.

"Bakura!" he yelled; the concern in his voice was authentic. The group that had been spying on him collectively were beginning to weird him out.

"Namu! How are you?" as soon as he reached him, two snow-white arms had encircled his shoulders without hesitation, pressing their bodies together seductively. Why was he pretending?

"Should you be-" Marik asked, however he was cut off by a very gentle kiss on the lips. The sensation was warm and comforting, but the catcalling and whistling from behind him wasn't.

"I missed you," the accent was distinctly British, but the voice was light and sweet, like the host's, as he addressed our villain's chest.

"So did I," Marik assured him, stroking his hair lovingly, casting a sinister glance across his shoulder at the group of youths. There were at least eleven of them, three were duellists, and six were female. Almost all had stupid voyeuristic grins plastered to their faces, and one had the cheek to wolf-whistle while he was still looking at them. Why was Bakura playing his silly game of pretence now? Couldn't they just send them all to the shadows? Speaking of which, Marik was quick to notice the ring had disappeared momentarily from Bakura's chest. He turned back to the group.

"Go get a life!" he suggested to the youths threateningly, with a growl. The group promptly started laughing to his utmost anger, big raucous guffaws, which made our villain's blood boil. What an embarrassing situation to be caught in!

"Ignore them," commanded the dainty figure in his arms, his chin resting on our villain's bare shoulder so that he could view them. He seemed very at ease with this commotion, which left our villain confused as well as enraged.

"So… you want to go shopping? Or do you want to find a secluded area of the park and make up last night to me?" It was amazing how sweet and innocent Bakura had managed to sound while saying that; it was definitely the spirit, but he was doing an overly-convincing job of impersonating his host.

"No, I don't think I want to end up on the news a second time," He replied, trying to ignore the annoying group behind them, and instead tightened his grip on Bakura.

"Well may Anubis curse them eternally if they ever show two guys having sex on the evening news," whispered a little voice huskily, right into his ear ...which really didn't suit the words it happened to be saying.

If that was supposed to change his mind, it wasn't working.

"So, are we going to stand here all day and get harassed by those kids, or should we go somewhere else?" suggested Marik, running his hand gently through the mass of white hair spilling down the other's back. Amazingly it was completely void of knots, and so his fingers passed easily through the colourless strands.

"Oh, sod off you lot!" Bakura suddenly shouted towards the crowd, but instead of the peace our villain would have liked, they were cheered on for a second time. Marik was really becoming enraged now.

"Fine! You want a show? Here's a show!"

Seizing his slightly taller friend around the waist, he used one hand buried in the white mane to press their lips together. But just this wasn't enough; he bent his head slightly to the left to make it look worse than it was…but obviously Bakura had other ideas, for he felt him prise his lips apart, forcing Marik to open his mouth wide and embrace the other's tongue for real. What was he doing…?

As the kiss deepened and they both melted into each other, there was an enormous cheer rose from the group behind, spiked here and there by whistles or independent hollers. It was high time to have quit- in fact, Marik couldn't hold his breath for much longer, but still his demonic friend refused to break apart. A hand made itself known beneath his short white jacket, light touch against tanned skin. Marik removed it himself.

They broke apart with a gasp not long after that, forced to take a minute to recover. Chocolate brown eyes met violet-blue ones in this interlude, neither understanding the point of this show of affection…and quite aware it did nothing for their image, Marik swept his demonic friend into a one-armed embrace, making to walk off.

One of the teenagers yelled a certain profanity at them, causing his friends to all howl with laughter once again.

Marik's demonic friend pulled him forward with a little huff, which reminded him of a girl. (_Was he that affected by it?_ wondered Marik. _If he was then why did he kiss me?)_ Then Bakura surprised him by turning back to the teenagers and showing them his middle finger defiantly.

Amidst a final jeer or two, Marik dragged the other off around the corner.

As soon as they were out of earshot, our villain rounded viciously on him.

"_What_ was that?" he inquired, icily.

"'You want a show??' Not before you explain the purpose of that little sentence first,"

"Those kids were getting to me, okay? Now lets go, we need to waste another hour before my plan can start."

"And I have a perfect way of doing that," came the reply, dipping low, no longer galvanised by the sweet innocence of his host's voice. It was a bloodthirsty growl, which startled Marik somewhat.

"I am not going to have sex with you in a Ra-damned park!!!!" he exploded, after the startling he'd just received he was definitely very unwilling to take abuse, and was certainly not in the mood to argue over his friend being horny.

Which he most definitely was.

There were two elderly women that just-so-happened to have been making their way across a zebra crossing around the time he yelled that out loud for the world to hear, and feeling their relentlessly appalled stares in the back of his head, reddened lightly.

_Just what I need. Angry old women…_

"Yes, just announce it to the world then," Bakura suggested, mildly, smiling off another man who'd apparently been somewhere near them and was now glaring daggers at the demonic angel beside our villain.

"Shut up!"

They rounded another corner sharply; immediately our villain's eyes followed Bakura's hazel ones towards the game store beside them on the corner of the street. It was a triangular shaped two-storey building with the word GAME proclaimed across it's beige face.

"This is where Yugi lives…."

"I know…" Our villain technically did already know this, he'd just never been here in person before. However he did doubt the Pharaoh's little vessel would be home when there was a tournament happening right outside his door.

"Want to go pay him a little visit, Marik?"

"No I don't! Let's get out of here before someone comes out and recognises us again!"

"You know, there's been nobody recognising us so far, just you making us get noticed," the spirit pointed out helpfully. However he still followed our villain around the next corner passively, and when they happened upon another shop, Marik stopped.

"What is the point of having two game stores back-to-back nearly, when it's the same area? Surely that's bad for business?" he exclaimed, leaning back to examine it's outside.

" _This_ is bad for business…" Bakura wrapped slender fingers around our villain's wrist, and led him towards the back of the building.

"What are you-"

"Shhhhh…."

The side and back of the building were the same lemon yellow that the front had been, and a steel door sporting an emergency push sign appeared to offer entrance. However the shop did not look remotely inhabited at it's front, let alone the rear. What little scrubby trees populated the green at the side they were on did not mask the white-haired teen's attempt at breaking and entering, which made our villain very nervous.

"What are-"

"I said shhhh!"

Bakura was bent across the lock, fiddling with something… Marik actually gasped when it sprung open, admitting them.

"How did you do that?" he whispered, staring with wide violet eyes.

"What can I say? I'm good with my hands," grinned back the spirit. Our villain had the sneaking suspicion that was not related to his recently accomplished feat.

The inside of the shop was slightly light, it seemed that it may have been open, there was just no customers milling in and out yet. They had come through the fire-exit, it appeared, as Marik stared around and they strolled further into the shop. Duelling cards, decks and posters lined the shelves, along with other normal board games, comics… Marik had never seen anything like it.

"I didn't know they had shops to sell this sort of thing," he grinned; almost resembling a kid in a sweet store. But this is Marik Ishtar we're on about, so as soon as that attire had crossed his features, it was gone forever.

"Yes.. These mortals are quite a funny bunch," Bakura offered, inspecting several rare cards in a container. Marik grinned. His rare hunters could find him any card in the world if he wanted it. He wasn't interested in cards…

"Hmm, this'll do," In mid-thought, Marik was yanked sideways, and collided against Bakura, as a whole ball of black netting leapt down on top of them like a spider ensnaring her prey and knocking both of them to the ground. Marik disliked most spiders. And was not very comfortable to say the least; he was now lying on his side, with something just warm enough to be some part of Bakura between his legs.

"What in the name of Isis are these??" he yelped, trying to free his vision first, but the netting refused to allow him to see anything but frustrating glimpses of white and blue stripes of the other's T-shirt and the spirit's jeans showing through the little square holes. It entangled itself in his fingers as he ripped at them, and wound around his wrists, deepening his prison.

"Don't fight them, it'll just use up your energy," a growl from somewhere on his left answered, but this did not calm our skittish villain down at all, in fact it made him even more concerned for whatever part of Bakura which was right between his legs, now that he was not expected to be able to see. By touch and with both of them wearing clothes, it was impossible to tell what exactly it was. But whatever it happened to be, just thinking about the options was already stirring his hormones embarrassingly.

"What are you doing?" he couldn't see a thing, but he suddenly became aware of the other teen's mouth making it's way down his stomach, in very gently unnerving kisses. This did not help his new…er…problem. If Bakura didn't quit, he'd soon be able to notice this again, unlike Marik who couldn't see anything but netting.

"I'm just making you feel a little better," here he nipped him gently, earning a gasp from Marik, "About the sudden detour,"

"I thought we were going window-shopping?"

"We're in a shop, what more do you want?"

..."I want to be free from whatever this is! Now help me get rid of this stuff, instead of salivating all over me!"

"Ah… but you enjoy it really," Bakura finally informed Marik, yanking him forward. It seemed the bit of his friend he'd been worried about earlier could only have been his leg, our blinded villain realised, as he found himself being pulled up backwards over Bakura's knees, as he sat with his legs beneath him, now comfortably between our villain's legs.

"No I don't! Release me!" he shouted; this was what he disliked, being rendered helpless while the spirit was free to do anything to him. It should be the other way around…

"Ah…and again your body betrays your true feelings," his captor cooed, running a curled forefinger affectionately across the organ making itself known beneath dark fabric. Marik had to hold back the next gasp connected with a rush of pleasure through this area, bravely in his throat- if he wasn't careful it could have manifested itself into a moan…and that was not what he wanted the spirit of the ring to hear. He had to figure a way out of here… things truthfully just seemed to be progressing twice as fast as usual now that our villain was not expected to use his vision.

_May Ra curse him, in all his seductiveness, _Marik gasped in his mind_, and why the __**hell**__ can't I control myself when I can't even see what's going on??_

"Why here…?" he gasped, aware of Bakura unchaining the front of his jacket. The light brush of his friend's fingers against his tanned skin was doing nothing to quell the fiercely forming erection, and as he felt the light brush of the white fabric embrace his sides, cold zip biting his ribs.

"Because…I see that you're quite… _affected_ by dangerous situations," again Bakura was forced to acknowledge the presence of a certain part of Marik, which was directly in his sight.

"You know that someone could walk in at any moment?? Any yet still you won't help me out of here?" he raged, trying desperately to ignore the sleek pale hands tracing the outline of his hips, almost wrapped around the other's by now. Marik closed his legs around Bakura as closely as he could, however, this wasn't too far. He dug his knees into his friend's sides in the vague hope he could deter him, soft entrails bending to embrace him, but crowned by strong ribs, ones which were still damaged from the crash.

_Dammit, why can't I calm down?_

"Aha, so you admit that's what you enjoy?"

"Why are you doing this, Bakura? I told you, you'd get you payment, as long as I beat Yugi," Marik reminded him, breathing embarrassingly ragged as he covered his head with an arm still entangled in the netting. He could feel the slight tickle of the spirit's fingers on his belt next, and could barely think straight at all, let alone gather his thoughts to hatch a plan of escape.

"This is nothing to do with the repayment I require," he stated, finally unclasping the belt, and yanking it open violently. "I'm merely curious about something, and am testing some vital pieces of evidence about you,"

"Testing? Evidence? Bakura, this isn't a joke! I swear, if you let me out, I'd-"

"Ah, and that's precisely why I choose to keep you bound up." The demonic snarl cut him off.

"I don't want any unnecessary mess, since I have decided you would end up causing, had I freed you," Now the sensation overtook him, of his friend sliding his trousers down over his thighs, until they met Bakura's body and he was forced to concentrate very hard on not coming embarrassingly on the spot(again). Bakura, however, seemed reluctant to move from his place between his legs, so here they stayed.

"No… this is dangerous…" Marik gasped, trying to find his white-haired friend's hands without being able to see, "Please…"

"Don't beg, Marik, it'll just make all of this a lot more humiliating for you," the answer came, British accent massacring the words, curling them demonically beneath the dark owner of the words. It all sounded so definite…Marik found both his friend's hands and clung tightly to them in an attempt to halt him. However, the crafty spirit of the ring was undeterred and managed to still slide down his boxers even with the weight of his hands on his wrists, exposing the throbbing erection beneath and causing a slight yelp from Marik, as a burst of white-hot ecstasy ripped through him and he bit a lip desperately against it.

He was determined not to let his friend win… Still he pressed his fingers into the wrists of his demonic associate, desperately forcing them away from himself in an attempt to keep what little dignity he now had left. There were muffled noises from elsewhere in the shop too; he feared for a second for other customers to stumble across them. At least they were both concealed by the netting… a little. But a second later he actually wished for them to discover them in a last-ditch attempt to halt him.

"Hmm… how should we proceed?" asked the spirit, confidently, inspecting the unruly organ which was standing tall to stare him down.

"Let me go, and we can just start the plan early," suggested our trapped villain, truly shamed and completely at the spirit's mercy at this point, worming his fingers around Bakura's, trying desperately to hold off any other plans he had to use them.

"That would just be… boring, no? How about you _show _me what you like," Within two seconds, the tables had been turned; now our villain's hands were entwined with the spirit's… under _his _control.

_Gods… why won't he… stop? What in the name… of sweet Osiris… does he want to…accomplish?_

Whatever he was trying to accomplish soon became very apparent; two pale crafty hands forced his own around the erection, pressing down lightly and curling his little finger into Marik's palms so that he would not escape.

A bolt of ecstasy almost ripped him in two, his hips embarrassingly twitched upwards without his meaning for it. He couldn't hold back much longer…

"Bakura, you are dead when I get up," he gasped, trying desperately to keep control… at least until someone could even happen upon them. It was more difficult than any other time he'd tried… he wasn't even sure how many more _seconds_ he'd be able to stave it off let alone minutes… that hot, hot blood throbbed dangerously in his temples, it's pounding rhythm almost obscuring every thought or sight or sound…

"I believe that's not an accurate threat," hummed the demon, jerking one hand upward, and dragging Marik's with it.(A/n: remember he's sort of already dead, being like 3000 years old?)

"Agh… no!" his back arched instinctively, he writhed beneath his friend's powerful grip. This was not what he'd expected to be doing to pass the time until the rare hunters would go after his specified victims, (desperately fighting back ejaculation… )

"I told you, if you expect to keep your dignity, don't beg… it only turns me on, too…"

"You…you're sick!"

"Am I?" another jerk, this time he freed Marik's left hand completely in favour of stroking the shaft of the stiff organ with one finger himself.

"Y…oh sweet Horus!"

"Shhh…. You'll get us discovered, if you shout so loud…"

"Sick! You're sick! Gerroff… get away from…" there was just no way he could contain it for much longer. However, suddenly Bakura was no longer stroking him, he was quite still.

"Shh. What was that?" Was this all part of a plan that Bakura had, or was he truly on the verge of being discovered? It was quite possible for either to be happening.

Suddenly the hand binding his other disappeared too leaving only his own still around the stiff organ, and he was free, no longer liking it.

"What…who was what?" asked our villain, no longer particularly caring what was going on much. He could feel the anger bubbling dully through the searing heat of sexual arousal, anger at the fact that he was being used, and embaressed like this. If the tables could have been turned, then perhaps he'd be a little more comfortable... but although they may have been entangled in this netting, it still would not shield them from sight if some unfortunate customer were to enter the shop...

"Is it impossible for you to- Um, Marik we might need to get out of here quickly, on second inspection," The spirit's tone was serious, he wasn't joking. And he was the only one who could see anything.

Marik almost gasped in frustration. If he knew he was going to just torture him like this, he'd have never followed him into the shop in the first place, let alone actually manage to become trapped in this compromising position. He writhed in discomfort, suddenly loosely aware this absence of physical contact was even more uncomfortable than when the spirit had been toying with him. He could not hang on much longer, and was desperately fighting jerking his own hand up the painfully stiff erection in absence of Bakura's. But he would not give him that satisfaction, just like he had not, in private. Here would be worse, if anything.

"Possible to....do... what?" He desperately attempted to slow his shallow, rapid gasps, although this didn't seem too successful. If there was any hope, now of escaping with at least half of his dignity, then perhaps this was it. To just get out of here.

_But why does... that sound... so unappealing ...right now? Why.... can't I....just con...trol...myself...? Why is it... I need...this release...? Gods..._

"Here. Get rid of it, whatever way you see fit." suddenly the spirit was offering him some sliver of white material, and if the situation wasn't defeating him at this moment in time, Marik would have laughed. Was this Bakura chickening out? Or was he using this as some sick way of testing his threshold? Again, either excuse was quite possible, and Marik accepted the cloth although he was no longer even sure what Bakura wanted him to do with it. The warmth of the spirit's hips still seeped into his thighs, and he tightened his grip of Bakura's body with them, gritting his teeth against another rush of hot, choking ecstacy.

_There's not... much time...left..._

"Marik, I wasn't joking," The spirit of the ring did not move, but now he could vaguely hear whatever it was that was worrying him- there was someone thudding down some stairs nearby. They did not sound too close, but perhaps he was wrong, since Bakura seemed so concerned with it. Our villain, either way, could not have cared less. That would serve his friend right, if someone walked in on them, he'd make _him_ take the blame.

"How... about ..._you_ do it, then...?" he gasped, clawing desperately at the nets once again to free himself, although he knew in advance it would do nothing to help, not even distract him slightly. Whatever happened, he would not let himself go down without a fight.

"What's wrong? Don't know what to do?" hissed the spirit viciously, sarcastic bite filling our villain's ears as he suddenly arched his body into Marik's, and pulled his thighs even closer around his body so that our villain was subjected to the full ripple of Bakura's lower abdomen muscles. This was it... there was no way he could fight it any longer...

"I...I c...can't...hold..." he gasped, writhing frantically.

"You surely can't be that ignorant," Bakura snapped quietly while he held Marik's thighs in place, "I suggest you do something about it soon, though because there's someone coming... I can hear them..." Our villain could only hope for escape, so that he didn't embarress himself un-necessarily, but still the spirit would not even grant him that, it seemed. Marik was sure if he were free and could see Bakura's face, he would see the hungry gleam in his friend's auburn eyes, swirling lust to sit and watch him pleasure himself.... He must have been meaning to do this all along... He was just toying with him, waiting for Marik to give in and do what he wanted.

But he would not give him that satisfaction....ever.

"Ba...kura......I- can't...hold back... any..."

"Shut up or they'll hear you, Marik,"

"....can't hold....back... a...any more!"

There was a convincing noise from the back of the shop, as if someone would walk in in the next few seconds, and this caused Bakura to lean down across Marik without warning, as he freed his legs from beneath himself ready to leap to his feet and meet their visitor head-on. A flash of light erupted from his chest- all of a sudden the ring was hanging heavily around his neck, ready to defend them.

As he rose, his t-shirt's loose end happened to momentarily touch the tip of Marik's tall, stiffened organ… and sent a searing, iron-hot wave of pure ecstasy ripping through him.

The battle was over- the last things that went through his head was the realisation that he'd lost this fight.. but Bakura would not be considered the victor, if Marik could help it... and with the barely-discernable sacred name of some Egyptian god or other escaping his lips…he could think no more as the stars opened up and swallowed his soul.

"I think whoever our little guest is, is going to enter through that door over there. We must be ready to run in less than two minutes so it'd be advisable to… _Marik!!!_"

He'd tried to warn him… but he hadn't listened, and now there was nothing else he could do, but desperately gasp for breath, seconds after the ejaculation had spattered across Bakura's middle, white drops of come dripping down the blue stripes patterning it.

The spirit was staring with wide dangerous chocolate orbs down at him, hands raised in protest and disbelief at the warm mess seeping into his middle.

"You insolent mortal!" Came the indignant hiss, but Marik, however was unable to answer. He realised just how hard his heart was pounding, cold sweat running down his back as he lay breathing heavily, his chest rising and falling rapidly.

"Now look what you've done!" Bakura gestured downwards, inspecting the damage. He must have deemed it severe, and shoved our villain from his knees viciously, to which Marik had no complaints. He was only beginning to remember who he was.

But not long after that, the afterglow of orgasm was beginning to die, our villain found his anger building uncontrollably once again in his chest.

_How __**DARE**__ he embarrass me in such a way? How __**dare**__ he violate me like that? He is but my slave, to get me what I require to rule the world! If he wants me to have sex with him as part of his payment, that's fine. But this... **this**... is **not** part of our agreement. And for this... he must pay! **Nobody, and I mean NOBODY does this to Marik Ishtar!!**_

"Marik, you have the threshold of a twelve-year old!" shouted a dark, enraged snarl, while the spirit peeled back the lip of the shirt, and a single drip of come escaped onto the tiled floor they sat on. That was the last straw.

WHAM.

The anger and humiliation shot with the adrenaline through Marik's fist, and before our villain realised what he was doing, it collided hard into pale, ghostly cheekbone. Pain shot through his wrist- he'd never punched anyone seriously before…but he wouldn't give Bakura, who was duly knocked to the floor, the pleasure of knowing how much it had hurt. With the strength he'd just unknowingly exhorted, he was not only sitting up, but now freed from the netting too. Both had been equally stunned by his daring.

"You are _not_ allowed to do that to me!" Marik roared finally, the anger bubbling over like a volcano spewing lava into the air once he realised what he'd just done. He pulled up his boxers and trousers in one motion, and extracted the millennium rod's shaft from the inside of his sock, rounding it on his downed, and very shocked friend. There was no remorse for the wicked.

"What the devil was that for?!" the spirit shouted, clutching the stricken cheek. He had not expected Marik to do that, out of all the possible reactions, it was certainly one he appeared not to have thought of.

"_**I ordered you not to touch me, so you've only got yourself to blame! Nobody disobeys me, and now you must suffer the consequences of your traitorous actions!!"**_ Our villain bellowed, the rod glowing a threatening orangey-yellow as he pointed it in Bakura's face. Never had he been so angry and humiliated in all his life!

The millennium ring lit in a bid to match him; the two shadow-powers cancelled each other out before it would come to magic blows, too.

"Who am I? Your slave? You enjoyed that, may I remind you, and I'm the one you just came all over!" growled back the spirit, seizing the materiel he'd offered to our villain which lay forgotten beneath the netting, and attempted to glean some of the remains of the ejaculation from his clothing. It appeared to be a handkerchief of some sort on second glance, and this was probably the last use it would ever get.

"Well- that decides it. You're worse at controlling yourself than even my host is!" Bakura grumbled, tenaciously as he rubbed at the shirt.

So that was the point of all that??

"Let me remind you that you're also just a teenager!" Marik wasted no time in replying. Momentarily it had skipped his mind that this spirit only inhabited the body of another, and that he really knew nothing of who he really was.

"Ah yes, my _host_ is I suggest you remember... Although I still experience the urges and impulses that he would while I possess him, unlike he _AND_ you, _I_, at least know how to _deal_ with them!"

Our villain had just opened his mouth to shout some more abuse at his white-haired friend, but just then a dark-haired young man blustered into the room, the visitor Bakura had predicted who had now been forgottn in the mess. The young teen came to a halt when he came upon the sight of both our blonde villain, violet eyes burning in rage, and Bakura, pain and resentment swirling in the eternal mocha orbs addressing the stranger.

"Oi! What happened here?" He shouted, tossing a stray strand of coal-black hair back. He was almost taller than Bakura, with gleaming eyes of emerald and a nervous expression filling his features, red t-shirt and leather trousers covering his body.

_You really do not want to know that, fool!_

"I…We were attacked by your fishing nets," cooed a little British accent from the floor. Marik, remembering the news article, hid the rod at the back of his trousers- it was a good idea to don their fake personalities right about now… his towering rage would have to subside for a time when he could vent the full brunt of it...

"There was no harm done, I'm glad to say. Could you possibly offer me a hand up?" asked the spirit, in his sickeningly sweet host's voice. Marik almost sweat dropped.

"Sure," the strange teen extended his hand. "I heard yelling, I thought there was a fight…"

_Again, you have no idea..._

"That was Namu… he…the whole thing really startled him," Bakura lied convincingly as he was hauled to his feet. He mentioned nothing however, of the bruise starting to creep into the skin surrounding his jaw, and nothing, for that matter, of what happened to be on the hand he allowed himself to be pulled to his feet with. Marik realised with a jolt there was still a noticeable stain across two of the lowest blue stripes, too and could almost feel his heart plunge as the shop attendant's eyes wandered across it.

"You two okay?" he asked them. Our villain noticed suddenly he had a small six-sided dice dangling from a string attached to his ear, and focused desperately on it to distract himself.

What an odd choice of earring.

"Yep, just passing through…" Marik chanced in fear, moving towards Bakura, and embraced him tightly around the waist in an effort to conceal the white stain across his front. Seeing the uneasy look creeping onto the stranger's face as he realised that the two were a little -ahem- more than friends, our villain made him even more uneasy when he gently kissed his friend's neck(or at least, it would have appeared gentle to their onlookers; really he gathered a very small amount of skin inbetween his teeth, and bit hard) which caused Bakura to yelp slightly. The green-eyed teen's face contorted. He was very uncomfortable, all of a sudden.

"You have an impressive amount of stuff here," Marik pointed out as he rocked his friend lightly back and forward after that. He could see the arctic-haired teen still absent-mindedly dabbing at the front of his T-shirt once again out of the corner of his eye, although his own two arms now concealed the most part. The adrenaline surge he'd experienced when he'd hit him was beginning to wear off now too, leaving him drained and weak, but still he was rather glad to have done it. The spirit had deserved it, anyways. Hormonal teenager indeed!

"Well, yeah… we don't get as much business as the Mouto's game shop around the corner… but still. Hey, you want a cloth for that? What happened to you?" suddenly the shop-owner and stranger had noticed too, and was pointing at it in a bid to get our villain to let go of his friend, and to distract himself from his own uncomfortableness. Little did he know it would have made things worse if he knew what they had really been up to....

Bakura cast a nervous glance into Marik's face, before he decided to answer.

"_Namu_ here um..... dropped his _milkshake_ in my lap," he invented… and hark, was that a bitter streak of regret lacing the poor host's sweet tone? Marik frowned at him, unseen by either of the others, and tightened his arms until he was sure it was causing poor Bakura discomfort.

"Yeah… it's okay, it's not too much of a big deal… I ate his instead! Heheh," he continued, much to Marik's dismay.

"Oh, yeah…that blows," agreed the shop owner, tone friendly once again. There was just something still hanging over this conversation, which threatened to bring out our villain's anger, smouldering in a pit deep down.

"Literally," Marik had to add in a murmer by his ear, causing Bakura to giggle. Although it seemed to be a genuine laugh, he still felt rather enraged at having the spirit laughing at him. His pride was still very tender after the beating it had just endured.

"Hmm… so anything I can do for you, after that scare my nets caused?" the strange dark-haired stranger bent beside the bundle of netting, gathering up it in his arms, where Marik had been trapped effortlessly. They were replaced into a hammock-like contraption hanging diagonally across the low ceiling.

"No… we were just _window-shopping_," Bakura told him, and almost had to duck from Marik's raised fist once again behind his back.

"Oh, _that's_ what you call it," he hissed threateningly. The shop owner thankfully, paid them no heed. It appeared he was far too busy wrestling with the hammock, which would not contain the nets, and it was using every bit of strength he had to avoid letting them tumble back over him.

"If you don't mind, Namu, I want to go. It's almost lunch-time, and I'm hungry!" Bakura announced in his host's chirpy voice, and Marik was forced to fake a grin as his beautiful friend flashed his own smile around. So this was his great plan for the escape they so badly needed?

"Well, you heard the guy!" Marik was fine with that. Anything to get away from their company so he could finish punishing the merciless spirit of the ring, who badly needed it, if he was going to attempt to toy with our villain in such humiliating ways outside(or even inside) of closed doors.

The shop assistant/keeper was too busy wrestling the net back into it's place, so just waved absent-mindedly in a polite goodbye over his back.

"Okay, see you around!"

Bakura grabbed Marik by his open jacket, and pulled him towards the door, an excitable, feminine and startlingly beautiful fairytale-like figure once again.

"Ooh, I want to go to Mc Donalds!"

"There's none of them for miles, can't we just swing by a random coffee bar or something…"

"No, can't we go get another _milkshake_?"

Cough.

"No!"

"Icecream then?"

"Shut up, you fool!"

As soon as Marik had wrenched the door open angrily, flashing a vicious glare towards the handsome spirit, he had not anticipated the huddle of teenagers to be just outside of it, barring their attempts at an un-noticeable exit. He hung at the door, unable to force Bakura through it, and a pair of amethyst eyes belonging to a small boy with tri-coloured hair it's other side locked to his own violet ones, quashing his hopes of getting revenge on the cunning spirit of the ring anytime soon. It was the Pharaoh's vessel.

"Bakura? You're out of hospital? ...And Namu?" he asked, our villain certain it wasn't the mighty Pharaoh he would dethrone one day soon. He knew he was watching, though, and ever-present figure who was probably laughing at them from some corner of his host-Yugi's mind.

"Ah, yes.... hello Yugi," grinned the spirit beside him, waving innocently. "What brings you here?"

"Well, we were just coming to pay Duke a visit and see if he wants to watch me and Joey in the finals, since they start in less than two days," he explained, amiably. Our villain realised he was still wearing the dual disc, and that Bakura, strangely was not.

"Hey, Namu! You a duelist?" asked a rough accent just as he was thinking this, and the blonde head of Joey appeared in the doorway.

_Trust Joey Wheeler to notice that... _Marik thought bitterly to himself.

"Ah...yes. Not much of one, I might add," he lied, throwing the arm it was strapped to behind his blonde head, as if to conceal it. He was not liking where this was going, and although there was still a little while to kill before his plan was in action, if he could get a moment to himself, he'd now be able to start it sooner. "I hope that's not a challenge?"

"I know that voice! Isn't that... Yugi?" asked a voice from behind them, thankfully cutting off Joey's answer. The dark-haired shop keeper appeared behind them, fresh from his fight with the netting, and was grinning over both Marik's and Bakura's shoulders down at the infamous little duellist.

"Hi Duke!"

_This is Duke? Don't tell me he is another foolish friend to the Pharaoh's vessel....? Just how many friends does this runt have, anyway?_

"Hey,"

Marik, who was quite uncomfortable with Duke leaning over his shoulder, managed to persuade Bakura via an un-necessarily hard poke in the back, to leave the shop and mingle in the group of youths around it's entrance. Here, perhaps, they were a little closer to freedom at any rate.

"Are you going to watch us in the finals, guys?" asked Yugi, staring up at the three.

"You bet I am! I can't believe Kaiba never invited me to it!" laughed Duke, as Marik found himself the other side of Joey, and very uneasy. The hazel-eyed blond was noticeably taller than he was, and his broad shoulders and racaous laugh made our villain very uncomfortable. He had this effect on people, that one could lose themselves in him. A strong quality Marik would love to use against people, but not have used on him.

"What about you, Namu? You compet'n in it, or just watchin'?" asked Joey, beside him.

"Well I haven't qualified yet... but you never know," he grinned, apologetically. As far as he was concerned, the less they knew, the better. And as long as they didn't figure out who he was, he was safe with Bakura, since they'd never know he was working with him to bring down Yugi. They didn't know too much about the spirit of the ring... right?

"You sure you're all right now, Bakura? ...And what happened to your T-shirt? You get into a fight with an ice-cream or something?" Yugi stared up, his eyes wide and sparkling with innocence. Not even our villain had the heart to take that away from him so cruelly.

Marik extended an arm quickly, which he slicked around his friend's shoulders and pulled him in against him, his hand lingering at his friend's waist, ready to grab him lest he'd say anything incriminating. However, Bakura's little British accent was just as sweet and innocent as the host's when he chose to reply, proud arctic head gently laid against our villain's shoulder and completing their fairytale image.

"Uh....yeah.... something like that...."

**A/n: There we go... a little bit more detail! They finally have met up with Yugi's gang... properly.... And Marik had the balls to punch Bakura!! Hahah, and all in Duke's shop, tooXD. Who do you feel more sorry for? Duke? Bakura? Or poor little Marik-kun? hahah, XD ****Aaaand, we know what turns Marik on now too! ^^ (The thing about Duke helping Bakura to his feet... er... for anyone who didn't get that, he'd been wiping the shirt with that hand... and um...:D heheh... dirty Kura...:D)**

**Okay. Still looking for one more review, and as I mentioned before, there'll be a duel next chapter which will be up as soon as I get it, which is sort of loosely based on what happened in the anime. So if you want, you can guess who the duel will be between, and who gets brainwashed, and who Marik attempts to murder.  
Oh, and because of that scene, then do you reckon I should still write the phone-related one I mentioned to a few of you???? :)**

**That's all... and will be until I get the last review... so hopefully I see you all again soon, I'm getting worried about how I seem to be losing so many reviewers along the way... (Are the chapters just too long for you to read, or is this story getting *gulp* boring and monotonous, now or something??)  
So, Until next time!!! Whenever that'll be....XD **


	12. Chpt 11 Of pride and chains

**A/n: Ah, this took forever to do! *faints* goodness, it's been so long since I last spoke to you all isn't it? Okay, a few little anouncements... Great thanks to Crystilia Aerosine** **.. a new reader and the giver of my elusive sixth review!! *hugs* If it were'nt for her, I'd have gone into hiatus until I'd have got it, and we don't want that right? Right??**

**Seiri apologises for the late update. She finds it very hard to get into the mindframe to write this story with long periods of time in between, so hopefully the reviews won't take so long next time? **

**It is NOT I stress NOT because I have lost interest, nor because of writers block. It's just because I find it hard to get back into... Okay... O.o Ah, I think that's all. Randomly, also I must add that I think the chapters are about to go from averaging 6,000 words to about 8,000 or 9,000 so Yay!!. This chappie's also nearing 10,000 words too! :D (However, since I'm out of practice, I don't know if it's as good. Please let me know what you think!)**

**Ah, a word to Millenniumthief on something you mentioned in a review last chapter, there's a scene you and some of the other readers might enjoy near the end of this chappie. It'll hopefully be quite unexpected...^^'**

**Disclaimer: Still own no rights to any of these fantabulous characters, or Yugioh in general. I am a fan!!**

**Chapter 11- Of pride and chains**

It had been almost ten minutes since Yugi had showed up to quash Marik's hopes of revenge on the scheming spirit of the ring, and for the last seven of them at least, had been wasted traipsing around in the wake of the gang, while they chattered on pointlessly.

Our villain and the white-haired teen were walking behind, hands interlaced briefly, silent. Every now and again, Bakura would supply a little giggle, or other polite remark to make it appear that they were listening, but really, there was a rough war going on below for who could crush the other's hand the hardest.

Duke, who it turned out owned the shop, had had to stay behind with a promise to meet them later, and Marik toyed restlessly with one of the pointed tips of his rod, protruding from the back of his trousers. After being discovered so quickly, he'd only had time to shove it out of sight, and now it's shaft was wedged down the back of his left leg making it completely impossible for him to attempt to sit down… nor bend his legs too far lest they notice. They must not know he had a millennium item, because if they did, they would quickly come to the conclusion of his real identity.

"I think we should go find Tristan and Serenity. Weren't they only going to get us some food?" asked Yugi, suddenly. Marik dug his fingers furiously and unexpectedly into Bakura's palm, and caused him to yelp slightly.

"…Oh?" he stuttered, twisting our villain's little finger painfully and making him force himself to hold back a wince.

"Yeah… whadd'ya think that _slouzer's _doin' with my sister?" raged Joey. Marik grinned through the pain in his hand, and continued their little finger-wrestle.

_Just you wait, Joey Wheeler… You shall obey my commands very soon… then you'll have no time to worry about your sister…_

"Hey, Namu…You okay?" asked the only female present at the moment. Tea. Her dark hair hung low across her shoulders, but despite her gender, our villain's was still comfortably longer, jetting in it's pale golden glory in between his shoulder blades.(Yes, Marik Ishtar was quite proud of his hair… when it was not semi-damp and fluffy…) She was staring at him, concerned at the uncomfortable faces the two were momentarily attempting to cover up from their hand-wrestle. Her sapphire blue eyes darted from one to the other, and down at their entangled hands for a second, until our villain assumed she became a little too weirded out, and finally rested on their guilty expressions.

"Okay, what are you guys up to?"

"Ah…I…whatever do you mean?" asked Bakura, in his sweet little host's voice, while all the while firmly tightening his iron-hard grip once again.

"Y..yeah, we're fine, you know. Actually, I'd be fine with anything as long as I have my little snowdrop there!" Marik invented, leaning into his friend and planting a rough kiss on his cheek, while attempting to struggle free of his hand. The spirit only could laugh apologetically at Tea's response, which suggested she now had become very uninterested by whatever she had originally wanted to know.

"Come on, guys, cut it out!" Yugi chided, gently. Apparently everyone was becoming rather overly-grossed out by their public display of affection.

"Looks like someone needs a hug," Marik grinned back to the haf-pint Pharaoh's host, but finally managed to free himself from the spirit's clutch. To his utter dismay, Bakura promptly latched himself onto our villain's arm like some sort of young female as soon as he had.

"Ooh, hug me!" he giggled. As soon as everyone had turned away, heaving uncomfortable sighs, our villain cuffed him as hard as he could around the head."Cut it out!" he hissed, and finally the spirit released him, an unholy venom passing briefly across his auburn eyes. This was when the tanned little mastermind began to realise he may just pay for that display of violence a little later on. Not that Marik Ishtar was particularly alarmed by the spirit, and if he tried any more strange little _tests_, he would be very sorry himself too, he vowed. Our villain was very eager to show him how he felt about the recent humiliation he had suffered, the same humiliation which was still spattered ambiguously over the spirit's front.

"So you guys, where are we heading?" again, it seemed, some members of the general public in Domino showed quite an interest in both our villain and the spirit's behaviour, and as they passed a newsagents on the corner of a street leading them back towards town, two youths perched on the seat of bicycles, one sitting licking the side of an ice-cream directed a loud wolf-whistle at the group. Most of the other members, including the host-like spirit, sweat-dropped. But Marik frowned, wishing he go back and teach them not to harass him in such a manner.

"You've got me wanting another ice-cream now…" Bakura sighed convincingly(considering the actual event that took place) and finally Marik halted.

"You mind if we catch up with you guys later? 'Kura wants icecream. And _icecream_ you shall have!" Marik called, grabbing his friend around the shoulders a little rougher than necessary and halting him. He hoped the inflexion in his voice wasn't too noticeable.

This was a perfect excuse to get away from the rest for gang for a while, to contact the rare hunters, and get his plan into motion a little sooner than he'd planned.

"See you later, _lovebirds_!" shouted Joey crudely, and Marik noticed Yugi giving him a little nudge in the ribs.

"Yeah, bye you guys! Enjoy your ice-creams!"

"Oh, believe me, we will…" muttered the dark British snarl, as soon as they were too far away to hear. Our villain, slightly startled, looked up.

"You serious about wanting ice-cream?"

In answer, he suddenly found himself being pushed provocatively around the corner of the shop, where there was a small, dingy doorway to a house hidden by a porch carved into the stone. There were grimy scraps of paper, litter from the shop-front which had been stolen by the wind and stashed here, as well as a broken light above a rotting, wooden oak door.

"What are you doing _now_?" Marik heaved a sigh, although he was not happy being led around here, this was an even less-likely spot to be discovered in. The doorway led out to a little dingy alley, he soon saw- the sort of alley one would feel nauseous in if the sky was in any way dark. It seemed like an under-developed, rotting part of Domino, one which Marik had not seen before, even though the eyes of his mind slaves. Broken crockery, moss-covered stones and festering splinters of wood populated it as far as the eye could wander… all the way down to the concave bend in the path.

Still Bakura refused to stop; he backed our villain right into the first doorway until he could feel the slightly slimy texture of the wood pressing into his skin.

"Are you done yet?" he asked, unimpressed, as Bakura's face loomed towards his. The dark hazel was swirling with some indefinable emotion, threatening and half-enshrouded by the snowy fringe and Marik became very aware there was nowhere to retreat to; he was unwittingly trapped.

"You realise this is a bruise?" asked the demon, rubbing his nose against our villain's jaw, but he attempted to ward him off with a rough push.

"So? You deserved that for what you did to me," he grumbled back. The wet, half-eroded wood gave out a rather unpleasant smell; it seemed even without looking at them that the houses were derelict- part of the bottom of this door had been stolen by parasites. Marik was rather looking forward to leaving this place.

"You understand that now I must punish you for your recklessness?" whispered the spirit, pressing him harder into the rotting wood, and as he tightened his grip on our villain's shoulder, he yelped slightly.

"Punish? Ha; I'm the one with the information regarding the millennium items, I suggest you remember," Marik snapped back, forcing Bakura away from him. "And if you still want our deal to go through, then you shouldn't be doing such things to me and expect the 'punish' _me_ for _your_ wrongdoings!"

"_My_…!" furious, the two unruly bits of hair that resembles some sort of animal ears on the top of Bakura's head leapt slightly as he tossed his head. "You remember that I will not hesitate to take both of what I require in this doorway if I so please, and leave you for dead here in this alley if you continue to speak so arrogantly to me?"

"You're forgetting that I own a millennium item too? You're not all-powerful just because you have the ring, it's just as …mmmph-" all of a sudden, the spirit leapt forward, and their lips met. Marik could feel the slight pressure of an exposed fang against his bottom lip, but from what progressed, this appeared to be just a crushing kiss. Finally the pressure was released, and Bakura drew away.

"You're much better help to me when you keep your mouth shut," he spat, less than an inch still from our villain's lips. So close he could feel the breath of every word against them. The heat radiated from his friend strangely, and blocked his view of the small glimmer of street they had just left. It was a powerful, unnatural heat, considering his image… almost as strange as the fridge being used to cook things, to Marik. He'd never felt someone radiate such a temperature, even when they were sick…

"Oh yeah? Well I'd be better off without you full stop. Remember it was you that approached me, not the other way around?" he muttered back, intoxicated by the slight honey aroma choking them. This, of course was not true; if they happened to just part ways here, then sure he'd miss this beautiful wild spirit, but he'd be also slightly glad to see the back of him. Nobody humiliated Marik Ishtar like this demonic presence just had, and got away with it!

"Ah," the spirit leaned even closer again, until the sides of their noses were against each other, and he'd wrapped his arms around our villain's middle, right leg sliding between Marik's.

"You seem to have forgotten that although I approached you, you were the one who decided to run me down…"

"Don't play that card against me again!" the heat of the spirit's body against his was stifling, and no matter what happened he would not allow himself to become aroused around him any more, for fear of another embarrassing 'incident'. However, despite his best attempts, it was not proving easy.

"Well… you are just as guilty as I am for that, my dear. I'd concur; we're about equal, aren't we?" he grinned, revealing two pointed canines once again.

"N..no we aren't! Now stop crushing me and I'll think about forgiving you for what you did in the shop…"

"Oh. Again you forget I'm the one you came all over," responded the spirit, lifting the leg between Marik's slightly, until their thighs were against one another.

"You shouldn't have pushed me that far, then!" our villain was really tiring of this conversation, and Bakura was so beautiful that he couldn't help his body's response…

_Damn my Ra-damned hormones…_

"Heh…with anyone else, I'm sure I wouldn't have had that problem. Seriously…" here Bakura's hand strayed slowly down his exposed abdomen towards Marik's belt.

"Do you not do your…._exercises_?" Before he'd managed to get this hand down Marik's pants this time, our villain seized his wrist and thrust it away from himself angrily.

"Look, I have no idea what you mean by that, but we don't have time to be discussing this. If you want to help me, then we'll go ahead with my plan! …And if you don't, then just get out of here already!" our villain burst out.

_I don't have time for his ridiculous attempts to get into my pants right now… perhaps later, in a controlled environment, with… __**restrictions**__ in place…_

"Ra, Marik! You mean to say you don't…!" here the white-haired spirit leapt away and released Marik, which he was rather glad of. He took the time to dust himself off and peel his back away from the horrible rotting wood, before he thought any about the way Bakura had just trailed off.

"Don't what?" now he was slightly interested, to say the least. If the spirit was indeed trying to embarrass him once again, he'd at least like to know what he was supposed to be out-arguing him over this time, so that he could quickly defeat him and get on with his plan so that he could become Pharaoh. Then he'd find time to play with his handsome associate.

Bakura grinned back at him, in a cunning, maniacal way which clearly stated that he had formulated some sort of his own plan in his incomprehensible mind.

"…My host used to be just like you, you know… and similarly, you'll soon realise _it_'s quite a necessity to indulge in… to avoid all these…_accidents_ from occurring in _awkward situations_,"

"Look, whatever you're talking about, I'm not interested. I'm going to call the rare hunters now, so you can either help me, or leave. What'll it be?" Marik freed the rod, and held it up to obscure Bakura before him, already searching out the waiting consciousnesses of his puppets, all sitting crouched in position, not about to insolently disobey him like Bakura would if he were given half a chance.

Suddenly, the raised rod was forced down by two pale slender fingers, until he were once again staring into a pair of patient, amused chocolate orbs.

"Do you still require my assistance?" he asked, cheekily, his features curved cockily. (A/n: Not like that! Stop thinking about it! O.O)

"If you want to help me, I suggest you _be_ more helpful. Stop trying to get on top of me, (in both ways,) and stop embarrassing me in front of Yugi and the rest, then! If my cover gets blown because of you, you'll be dearly sorry!"

The spirit only stared back, expression unreadable. He said nothing for a while, and the eye contact alone was beginning to alarm Marik.

_Why is he staring at me like that? Is there something on my face or is he just trying to scare me?_

"As you wish," he finally accepted, leaning in towards our villain's face once again, but this time only briefly left a slightly moist and gentle kiss against the side of his lips before backing off. Marik was left even more confused than he had been before.

_Why the sudden change? Has he accepted defeat, finally? Or is this another of his schemes?_

"So are you going to capture these fools and get the duel underway or are we going to stand around in this alley for the remainder of the day? I'm sure if you wanted to do that, I could provide some entertainment to occupy us, but something assures me that's not what you had in mind," Bakura's voice had retreated back to it's normal, startlingly rusty variety, as he stood before our villain with his arms folded, no longer trapping him.

"Yes… I'll call the hunters, if you're ready…""I was born ready, Marik."

………………………………......................................................................

"Hey! You guys! There you are!" the small band of youths at the corner of the road all looked up at the owner of the voice as he pounded into sight.

Marik had once again stashed his rod into his sock, and was now running wildly towards them with Bakura in tow, having had the rare hunters report their exact whereabouts to him, moments before.

"Namu! Bakura! You back?" asked a familiar slang accent. Our villain noticed Joey's sister with the long hair and the teen he'd spoken with the previous day on the train were there, so they must have managed to find them in his absence.

"Yup!" upon reaching them, he slowed.

"Hey! It's Namu!" exclaimed Tristan, "So Bakura got out of hospital okay?"

Our villain grinned, and glanced back at the second, stanched white mane of the spirit bobbing up to meet them. The tall buildings of the city loomed either side of him, closing them into the secluded little park-like green of Domino. There were plenty of shrubs and greenery beckoning for to be used as shade on a hot sunny day, and the little brick path that the members of Yugi's little gang were standing on was winding in a slithery circle around the public garden. Thankfully there were not too many people around, perhaps one or two couples having picnics or lazing around in the shade. A truly perfect spot for kidnap.

"Oh, yes, thank you," grinned the slightly out-of-breath silverette, as he arrived by Marik's side. The long-haired sister's face was still bound in bandages, and she turned in the direction of the voices.

"Is that the same person we met on the train, the other day?" she asked, a nervous hand raised towards her face. Tristan still had his hand on her shoulder, an unspoken sign of reassurance.

"Yep, and he's brought his friend, Bakura. Y'know, the one I told you about… the one he was going to see,"

"Oh… the one you said freaked you ou-"

"Ah…yeah…"

Marik grinned, despite himself, at how naïve she was. He wasn't even supposed to have overheard that conversation, yet even if he had no idea what she'd been talking about it was still not the best thing to come out with in front of the person it was about.

"So, you got into the finals yet, Namu?" asked a sandy-haired Joey, looming down at Marik out of nowhere. Despite himself, he leapt slightly.

"Ah… no… I'm not the best duellist in the world.." he stuttered back, trying his best to appear humble, although he could barely contain the laugh that was clawing it's way for freedom in his chest.

"Well this is Joey we're talking about. Perhaps he can give you some tips," Bakura smiled up at his friend, host-like and amiable.

"Oh, I hadn't forgotten that this was duellist kingdom's runner-up," Marik grinned, while Joey proceeded to look smug with himself.

"Yeah, I suppose I can give you some pointers sometime, Namu. After all, you and Bakura seem…er, very close," Was that repulsion in his voice?

_Is that right, Joey Wheeler? You want to give ME tips? Ha! You'll give me great pleasure in using, more than any of my other mind slaves. When I am Pharaoh you shall bow down before me, as will Bakura. Close? Was that a hint of disgust I detect?_

…_there is nothing wrong with being close to Bakura I'll have you know… he's not diseased, like all you people seem to think! You're just jealous because I had enough courage to go and get what I desire, and you are nothing! You are weak! The spirit would never-_

"Ah, we are rather fond of each other's company… aren't we?" Bakura nudged Marik and forcefully interrupted his inner monologue.

"Yeah… it sort of makes me glad we had the accident," he responded, naturally, without abandoning his thoughts completely. He hoped it hadn't sounded too empty.

"Yep! Love hit so hard it put us both in hospital for weeks!" joked the spirit, in his honey-ish, galvanised host's voice. Marik almost gagged at how disgustingly sweet he'd managed to sound, but only sighed instead after a moment's deliberation. Nobody said anything for a while; there was still a slightly uncomfortable air lingering over them from his last comment.

"Eh… you guys comin' to the arcade? It's still early, we might as well do something with the day…" suggested Joey, moments later to attempt to break the silence.

"Good call!" Tea exclaimed, and so it appeared that was the chosen destination. Everyone began to move, but Marik stayed behind, Bakura standing loyally at his side. (_Just how it should be…_)

However, just when he'd wrapped an arm around the other's shoulders, and was lazily following, a little voice caught him off-guard.

"Namu! Namu, can I speak to you for a minute?" Our villain glanced down quickly, his violet eyes meeting this the Pharaoh? Or still his vessel? Marik was unsure for a minute.

"Sure,"

"Er… _alone_. Sorry, Bakura. I hope you don't mind me stealing him for a sec?"

The white-haired boy with his arm wrapped around Marik shook his head, long white wave of mane swaying like a wind tossed flag as he removed it and they drifted apart.

"Not at all, Yugi. I'll catch up with the gang. See you in a minute," He leaned instinctively towards Marik's face, and was so quick at this that he didn't manage to recieve our villain's death glare behind Yugi's back.

Their lips met very softly and tenderly, and as he drew away, Marik caught the other's top lip between his teeth and pulled gently to get his attention.

"The time has come." he mouthed, slowly against him, until he was sure Bakura would have got the message based on touch alone.

"Like you," the spirit mouthed back with an unkind smirk, and drew away, leaving our villain's pride somewhat bruised and in a position where he was unable to reprimand him for fear of blowing his cover.

"See you soon, Namu,"

"Yeah… _snowdrop_…" he grumbled back, scowling darkly as the spirit skipped away down the path, casting a sideways glance back while he caught up with the group making their way down the steps of the public garden. Briefly it crossed his mind that he was very unmistakeably beautiful, especially wild, white mane wind tossed behind him… and free and…happy…

"Um… Namu," The little host of the Pharaoh tried to catch his attention, and Marik leapt, realising with a jerk that he'd been staring dreamily in Bakura's direction for a couple of seconds too long.

_How could I…! I don't…! Ra, that spirit's messing with my head…_

"Yes, you wanted to speak to me?" he grinned, rubbing the back of his neck apologetically. This was no time to be fooling around like a lovesick puppy…

_All right, my mind slaves… it's time… you must close in…_

"Er… yeah. It's well… it's about Bakura."

_You want to know about Bakura? Why don't you ask him yourself, or are you too scared the spirit of the ring is going to come and steal your soul?_

"Oh… 'Kura?"

"Yeah. Since the accident you seem to be his constant companion and stuff, and I never seem to see you two apart. …Congratulations by the way. Look, the thing I wanted to ask, you would probably be able to answer easier than anyone else, so here goes.

I'm just a little worried about him. Does he seem a little spacey since the accident sometimes now? I mean, like he's just…living in a daydream most of the time? I've truthfully never seen him act like this… like he's…"

"In love?" Marik grinned back in response, calm on the outside, but within he could feel his anger bubbling once again.

_Does Yugi know what he's saying? Or is that Ra-damned spirit of the ring on his way to blowing my cover AGAIN?? I thought he could impersonate his host perfectly! If this little shrimp's noticed a change in his behaviour, that means he's not doing his job properly, and we're in danger of being discovered!_

"I dunno… I just never knew that he was… um…well, look out for him for me. He doesn't seem to be himself lately, and I'm not too sure why…" Yugi continued, unable to make eye contact with Marik. Our villain frowned, knowing perfectly well why he wasn't himself, and that the spirit now was not doing the best job of pretending to be him. He might sound like him, but now that Marik stopped to think about it, his host(from what he'd seen of the annoying little bugger) was certainly very uncomfortable with being around another male like that, and seemed perturbed by the relations he knew the spirit was having with our villain while in control of his body. …Not some love-struck kid who savoured the company of some guy who he leapt out in front of and almost killed, acting startlingly feminine…………with his long white wash of hair, sleek curved figure and...

_That's completely off the point again! What is he doing to me??_

"Oh, I'm sure it's nothing to be worried about. I don't think either of us have been the same since the accident… but you must know him a lot better than I do. I only met him a few weeks ago… so if you're worried, then I guess I should be too..." our villain reasoned, marvelling at how genuine he could sound when the need arose. He was quite proud of his lying skills, and here they did him justice. Or at least, he hoped they did.

_You have not the slightest idea about him, you fool! Of course he's not himself with the spirit of the ring controlling him! How shocked you'll be when I take over the world as Pharaoh and banish your little friend! He's useless without the spirit! Worthless!_

…_Now, my mind slaves… strike hard, and strike fast…. And take my precious Bakura hostage too, while you're at it… they'd never suspect I'd take one of my own! …And this spirit needs to be taught a little lesson or two…_

Yugi had just started to answer, when a piercing scream arose from somewhere. The sound of a fight, of a disturbance…

"Was that Tea?!" Yugi leapt forward, and Marik struggled to constrain his smirk, unsuccessfully.

_Perhaps it was…_

"Wait!" now he leapt forward too, and caught the little vessel's arm. "It could be a trap!" he couldn't have him interfering too quickly.. After all, in this stage of the plan, he was not his target.

Yugi struggled free desperately, and began to run as fast as his little legs could carry him.

"Come on, Namu! Bakura's there, too! We have to see what's going on!" he shouted back, and finally Marik began to jog after him.

_I suppose it'll look suspicious if I don't? _

The steps down to the main road opened out like a funnel, and Marik took them two at a time, almost stumbling once on a rock, and skidded roughly into the main street. Yugi was not too far behind, panting.

Another scream sounded, which he instinctively followed into the alley snaking behind a derelict apartment block on the corner of the street. Here in the courtyard, he could see the scattering of black-cloaked mind-slaves, all closing in on the group of teens.

"Joey, I'm scared…" simpered a little voice our villain decided must have been the blind sister. It seemed the boys were not going down as easily as the girls, and both Joey and Tristan had started a brawl with two of the larger, burlier of the rare hunters. One black-cloaked figure was lying out on the ground already, but many had overtaken the girls, hauling them securely out of the way towards a van parked by the apartment block's doors. He smirked when he picked out Bakura amongst the smatterings of people, his expression contorted uncomfortably beneath a tall, wide rare hunter's arm. His face looked hauntingly terrified, and our villain realised the spirit must have released the pathetic host in the first sign of danger.

_He knows this is my plan… perhaps he just thought he was indeed supposed to be in this part of it..?_

Yugi reappeared beside him, and he glanced down momentarily.

"You guys!" he yelled, voice piercingly high in fright.

"Yugi?? Stay back, I've got this under control!" shouted Joey in return, but in the interlude was forced violently to the ground by two of his attackers.

"Joey!!"

"Bakura!" yelled Marik, just really for effect. If this was the host, he barely knew who our villain was, let alone would return his concern.

"What's going on? Let my friends go!" Suddenly Marik leapt to his left instinctively away from the little vessel, he felt the rod react from it's hiding place. Was this the emergence of the ancient spirit within?

_So you finally show your face, Pharaoh…? Well it won't be much help to them…!_

This new Yugi moved with confidence, striding forward towards the circle of kidnappers, coat dropping from his shoulders threateningly. Tristan had finally been overcome in an outnumbered fight, too, and both girls were now securely stashed in the van. Bakura struggled wildly against the large man holding him, but failed to free himself.

"Yugi, help!" he yelled while his captor steered him towards the van too. Marik grinned.

_Yes… let him know exactly what he's worth to me…_

"You think you're so tough..?" grumbled the tousle-haired Joey, and although it took three rare hunters to finally restrain him properly, he refused to give in. "Yugi, stay back…!"

"Who are you? What do you want with them?" Marik grinned at the sound of the mighty Pharaoh's words. This was beyond his control, and he was not comfortable with that. His whole body now radiated some sort of inner strength, but the transformation very subtle apart from that. Something most would not notice, apart from close friends and millennium item holders, such as he.

Marik followed behind, nervously(or to any onlookers, this was how he would have appeared), his violet eyes scanning over the approaching hunters, closing in threateningly.

It was actually true that Marik himself was in danger here, too. Most of his rare hunters had never even met him personally, and so had not the slightest idea what he looked like. They'd just as easily abduct him, as they would anyone else.

_It's me, you fools!_

He couldn't get his message across though, something was obscuring the rod from his touch, and still they approached them threateningly.

"Well-well-well… it's Yugi Mouto. To what do we owe the great pleasure of?" asked the first hunter, a dank, dreary voice escaping from the form obscured by black hood as he addressed Marik's one companion.

"Are you working for Marik?" the Pharaoh asked through his vessel, and our villain behind him almost leapt at the sound of the fear and hatred in his voice when he'd said his name.

_That's right, Pharaoh. Be afraid… be very afraid… after all these years I've finally come back for revenge and I want to make you suffer! So fear me! Hahahahaa…._

"So what if we are?" the man grinned, momentarily offering a glimmer of a toothy grin. The other hunters either side of him cut off even more escape routes, and the spirit king backed up slightly, aware of how dangerous the position had become. Marik leapt forward and seized his arm briefly.

"You let them go! Let Bakura go!" he shouted at the rare hunters, and the man in charge began to chuckle.

"What have we here? Another unlucky victim?"

_Oh you'll pay for that comment later, mind-slave…_

"Let my little snowdrop go! He did nothing to you! Take me instead!!" he burst out, fairly surprised at how possessive and passionate he'd managed to sound in his effort. The Pharaoh turned and their eyes met briefly, but still Marik would not let go of him. The crimson swirled in the once amethyst orbs, and some sort of primitive recognition sparked between them.

_Does he know? Surely he can't have worked it out for himself? How did he find out? _

"Are you Bakura's…" he trailed off, unconvincingly, finally catching onto something. He turned back to the cloaked men approaching. "Marik, if you can hear me, this madness must stop! Release our friends, and let us go!"

_Hahah, of course I can hear you, you fool! And to think you had me worried about discovery just a moment ago! Ha! Where have you been for the past few weeks? Let me guess; the inside of a millennium item! Hahahah!_

"That'll never happen," the man sneered, and when he'd crept even closer, Marik noticed thankfully that the van was pulling off; they were gone, and that was it. Phase one was soon to be complete.

_Well done, my mind slaves…_

"Marik…where are you taking my friends?" the Pharaoh roared, his voice much more threatening in his panic than his vessel's, but still not nearly enough to cause our villain worry.

"Wouldn't you like to know, Yugi…"

Suddenly the possessed host stumbled backwards, to avoid the clutches of the rare hunter, and our villain let him go when he ducked, in an attempt to avoid one of the others. They didn't recognise him… and while this was quite dangerous in one way, it was very advantageous in another. At least it caused much less suspicion on his part.

"Do something Yugi, they have Bakura!"

"I can't…this is all a very bad person called Marik's doing, Namu… I… we're in very grave danger here!"

"Marik? Who's that?"

_Well that's the first time I thought I'd hear myself say that…_

"I'll explain later… right now, I think there's only one person who can help us!" Finally, when there was nowhere left to hide, the Pharaoh turned, and ducked under one of the caped man's arms as he reached out for them, skidding out of the alley. Marik followed, marvelling at how perfectly his plan was going. The men began to grab at him too, but he ripped the rod free from his sock and pointed it threateningly at them.

"It's me, you fools!" he hissed, glancing over his shoulder to make sure the Pharaoh wasn't watching. He wasn't.

"Now do me a favour and go make sure none of the others manage to escape!" and with that, he'd just forced the rod, still glowing with the heat of his anger, back into his trouser-leg when a familiar pair of crimson eyes reappeared at the corner.

"Come on, Namu! There's no time to lose if we want to find our friends!"

"Y..yeah..!" With one final furious glare at the shocked hunters, Marik was hot on his heels, the warm breeze tugging slightly at his blond hair, and caressing his tanned skin gently.

"Who were those freaks who took Bakura?" he gasped, feigning breathlessness as they pounded down the streets of Domino. The traffic came to a noisy halt as he was led through the middle of a busy road, and through a market square, people scattering in their wake but still the Pharaoh wouldn't halt.

"They're a group of thugs…called Rare hunters. They work for a very wicked man named Marik, who has targeted our friends in an attempt to get to me…!"

"You??"

"Yes… it's because of me they were kidnapped…this Marik has some sort of deal with me, and although I'm unsure as of what at the moment, our first priority is finding where he has taken our friends…!"

Our villain was beginning to lose his breath for real, this time, but still the Pharaoh would not slow. Two coat sleeves billowed out behind him as he sped along, buildings and streets passing them in an instant. Adrenaline surged through his veins, blinding him briefly. Suddenly there was a shout from somewhere behind them.

"Yugi! What's the hurry?"

Looking back at a man Marik had narrowly avoided running into a second ago, his eyes locked with the speaker's. They were the iciest blue he'd ever seen, piercing enough to shatter a pane of glass with only one glance. He was transfixed, but still unable to stop, and for this reason felt something pull at his ankle and next thing our villain knew he'd hit the pavement face-first with a stinging pain clawing up his jaw.

"Dammit!" How could he have let that happen to him?

"Namu?" The Pharaoh skidded to a rough halt, his lithe body ragged from the sprint, and surprise crossed his face, not unlike our villain had, when he acknowledged the speaker.

"Kaiba?! What are you doing out here?" For only one person could own a gaze that powerful.

Said person strolled towards them contemptuously as Marik desperately heaved himself to his knees, sparks dancing ambiguously before his eyes from the quick downing. Seto Kaiba, and the owner of the last God card Marik's sister had unwittingly denied him, loftily side-stepped over our aching mastermind, and instead turned his attention to the Pharaoh.

"What's the rush Yugi? Paranoid that some imaginary person has gone and kidnapped your friends again?" he simpered, gripping the briefcase he had with him tighter. Marik attempted to get back to his feet, and as he did so, one of the long white coat-tails the CEO was wearing happened to catch him sharply across the face, knocking the last shred of dignity out of him, completing his graceless image, almost knocking him backwards again in the process.

"Kaiba you must help us! It's really happened this time! Marik's got my friends!" Our villain slowly rubbed a hand across his aching jaw, and fresh blood met his fingertips.

_Oh, you'll pay for that, Seto Kaiba…_

"Save it Yugi. Lest I remind you this is the same spiel you gave me last time? Just accept it; this Marik person probably doesn't even exist." Kaiba replied, and our villain grumbled in pain, conveniently forgotten at his feet.

_Don't exist indeed…we'll see who doesn't exist…_

"Kaiba; listen to me. A madman has my friends for real- I saw them been taken! I need your help again…in finding them…A.. are you okay, Namu?" finally he was acknowledged, and Marik turned around sheepishly.

"Ah… well… we must find Bakura! I won't be okay until we find him! A..and of course everyone else…" he gasped, attempting to stem the flow of blood dripping from his chin, earning him a new stripe of red across his forearm. The pain was beginning to get to him, and he struggled to force back the rage building up from his equally injured pride.

"How cute. You've got a new little friend," the CEO cooed vilely while he glanced down for the first time acknowledging our injured villain's presence, crossing his arms sarcastically, offering no expression which betrayed how he was truly feeling. A hand, extended from our villain's true target offered to help him to his feet. But he refused to take it; he would never stoop that low.

"Kaiba, please! You must help me… they took them in a van, a black van… it's only Namu and I who managed to escape. I have no idea what Marik's going to do with them…nor why he waited until now to strike…""Bakura's been taken too…" Marik sniffed, finding tears leaping into the corners of his eyes… not from any real emotional source, the combined strain of holding back his rage and how indignant he was at how they spoke about him, coupled with the stinging pain of his injured face was proving too difficult to do.

"Bakura? Who's that? Why should I care about him?" Seto Kaiba's trademark icy glare bit into Marik, and for all he could do, a single tear found it's way to freedom. His image already ruined, the only thing that reassured him was that perhaps he could use this setup still to his advantage.

"Because I.. because I love him!" he burst out, quite pleased with how convincing he'd sounded. Something tugged slightly at his insides; that was the first time he'd ever admitted(or even lied) about loving someone aloud, and it bothered him slightly. He tried to shake it away, but the feeling gnawed mercilessly at him.

It appeared he'd taken Kaiba's words away. For once, the cold, dry, ruthless business owner had nothing left to say.

"Please, Kaiba. Help us…" a warm hand on his shoulder told our villain that the Pharaoh was now standing behind him, and even without looking up from attempting to glean what little of his self-dignity from the pavement, he knew he was more worried than he'd ever been in his life, which brought at least some sort of pleasure to him at least.

There was a rustle of clothing.

"Mokuba…it's me. The dweebs have got themselves kidnapped for real this time. Can you track the signal on Joey Wheeler's dual disc?"

Silence.

"Mokuba."

"Mokuba!"

Silence.

Then there was a slight crackle of interference. Marik briefly found the base of his rod, which was making sitting like this uncomfortable, and searched for one of his mind puppets to talk through. He found one, as always, and alighted onto his conscience until he could see what they could.

_The office… good, they have Mokuba already…. _there was a microphone on a shelf near this puppet, and Marik made him seize it.

"_Seto Kaiba_..?" he forced the man say, into the microphone. To his amazement, the voice came out of the speaker above him on the CEO's jacket. That was a stroke of luck...

"Who is this?!" he heard the deep, sandy voice threaten.

"_I am Marik. Not only do I have your friends Yugi, but Seto Kaiba… I now have your little brother, Mokuba, too. So if you don't listen very carefully, they you'll never see any of these people again!"_

"Why are you doing this, Marik?!" the worried voice of the spirit Pharaoh behind him shouted. Our villain, still sitting on the pavement grinned slightly, and wiped his face again with another grimace. His arm was now an even deeper shade of crimson.

"_This is what I want you to do. Meet me on the pier in less than an hour, if you ever want to see them again. And be sure to bring the God cards…" _Then he withdrew from the man's mind, and attempted to move the rod so it was less noticeable and uncomfortable than before. Luckily, neither Kaiba nor Yugi's other half were looking at him, they were both transfixed by the speaker.

"What's going on?? Mokuba!! Is this some sort of joke?"

"Kaiba, stop it! You know as well as I do that this is the work of that madman. Now we must find where he's holding your brother and my friends before it's too late!"

There was another rustle of fabric.

"If you think I'm just going to walk into a trap, Yugi, you're sadly mistaken. …However, this Marik is now our common enemy. And we will do nothing until I find my brother!"

"Stop being so arrogant! You'll need my help if you want to find this Marik character. So can't we put our differences aside and work together?"

That was about all our villain could stand of their arguing. He wanted to get out of here, and do it fast. With another quick hand around the shaft of the rod, he called for a close slave to present himself. Quite a few did so immediately, so he chose one.

_Come and kidnap the blonde-haired kid with the dark skin…_

"Save it Yugi. This is what we're going to do. I'll call the chopper, and we're heading straight for Domino pier. Understood?"

"But I just thought you said it was a trap?"

Thankfully, he could see a group of shady-looking figures wrapped in trademark navy cloaks appearing from the shadows, unbeknownst to Kaiba and his main interest, the Pharaoh.

_Soon your boundless energy will be mine… I'll rule over this world…_

"Kaiba! Look! There's some of his men now!"

The two looked up wildly, and Marik grinned at the look of horror painted on both faces.

"Who are you?" shouted the dark-haired CEO, but still the rare hunters advanced silently, stealthily.

"Quickly, we've got to move! We have to get out of here! Namu, you okay?"

Marik nodded, and rose shakily to his feet. He'd been receiving the odd strange glance from other members of the public, with his choice of seating arrangement, but now that he'd gotten back to his feet, he realised his backside had been numbed by the cold street.

"Come on!"

"Who are we running from, exactly?"

"Just move, Kaiba! I'll explain on the way…"

The two sped away, and purposely Marik fell slightly behind. He could see the man he had contacted leap sideways from the shadow of a building, and suddenly everything went black. They had done their job.

"Yugi, they've got me!" he shouted, feeling the cold bite of concrete on his knees once again, whatever had been forced over his head was tightened.

"Namu! No!"

"Help!" he tried not to struggle, since he was safe now, and was aware of someone carrying him. The voices of the others all faded away, and he let the sway of gravity take him.

………………………………......................................................................

A little while later, the bag was removed and our villain immediately noted the lack of light all around. They seemed to be in the back of a warehouse, a wide spacious place, empty besides from the small congregation standing around him. Marik realised Odeon was one of the people gathered around him as he sat on the ground.

"Odeon! What are you doing here?" he asked, freeing up the rod once again, and brandishing it at the party.

"What were you doing with them?" he asked, a slight hint of worry beneath his deep accent. The sounds echoed loudly off of the walls.

"What do you think I was doing? I was setting the plan into motion, in a way that neither I nor Bakura would be suspected!! … Where _is_ Bakura, anyway?" He hoped the hunters had done as he'd instructed them to, as this would become essential later on.

"He's in the back, separate from the rest as you requested. Would you like to see him?"

"Yes…" our villain stretched hugely as he rose, the stiffness in his legs quite uncomfortable. They almost threatened to give way as he followed his closest servant towards the back of the warehouse, and he raised his hand to the injury he'd freshly obtained. The blood was sticky and half coagulated already, but it still stung violently.

"Here we are master. I must remind you… he's not too… happy about the conditions…" There was a heavy oak door to his left, which Odeon pushed open quickly.

"He'll be fine." Marik reprimanded him quickly, sliding through the crack in the door.

"Ah yes… well it was you I was worried about…" The servant replied in an undertone, so that our villain never heard.

This room was as dark as the one they had just left, if not more so. A tiny window to the right above them shed a single beam of daylight onto a thin frail figure, securely fastened to a chair in the middle of the room.

"Bakura?"

"Marik why the hell have they tied me up? Release me at once…! This was not part of the plan!" he replied, white crest of hair showing while he kept his head bowed, face forward on his chest.

"Ah, perhaps I just forgot to mention this…" He crossed his arms slowly, unable to take his eyes from the chained-up demon. There was something mystical, something beautiful, something…arousing… about this scene. It felt so good…

"I never would have agreed to this…" The British snarl echoed in the dark, and still our villain stood unmoving, just observing the sleek curve of his long body against the small wood… he was glad this chair appeared to be very miniscule compared to the person chained to it, since it brought out his body's curves better.

The rod began to shine, casting shallow shadows over itself, and the inhabitants of the room. Finally the spirit raised his head, and his auburn eyes twinkled threateningly in the half-light.

"I said release me at once, Marik!"

But still our villain couldn't tear his eyes away. He approached him slowly, contemplating what to do for payback. That punch was unexpected and well-deserved, but he'd rather his punishment was more…_carnal_…

He arrived before him, a wicked, satisfied glare he knew shone in his own violet eyes.

"Why would I when now I have you right where I want you?" he straddled him roughly, until he was seated in his captive friend's lap, both hands on his shoulders and forced the demon's head upwards to meet his gaze. The curve of his set jaw beneath his forefinger and middle finger was solid… appealingly so…

"I suggest you reconsider that sentence before you pay dearly for it," suggested his captive prey, dangerous fangs flashing in the dim light which surrounded them. Marik, in response, lowered his head until their lips met, and slowly parted the other's with his tongue. The warm wetness greeted him readily, but oddly enough, Bakura did not protest much. When our villain realised he was not responding either, he drew away.

"What was that for?" he asked, snidely, his dark snarl filling the silence. Marik felt his body react to their position, and shifted slightly to the right in Bakura's lap. The rope and chain was efficient to bind him, our villain felt it against his middle, sealing the demon's chest to the back of the chair. He ran a hand through the knotted mane of white hair, curling his fingers around each strand, slowly.

_Ra, he looks seductive when he's in chains…_

"You must learn to obey my orders properly if you want me to give you my end of this bargain.." he whispered dangerously, grabbing the handful of arctic mind he had violently, jerking Bakura's head back further.

The spirit of the ring could do nothing but grit his fangs against the jolt of pain from the hair-pulling, and grin in false confidence to keep his dignity in his current predicament.

"I never knew you were into S and M, Marik,"

**A/n: *covers head* please say it's an okay chapter!! I can't judge my own writing any more!! And Sun-chan, please don't kill me for tying Bakura up like that!!! (which may I just say, was very asthetically pleasing for Seiri to write...:D mmmh...)  
I feel like the kidnap scenes were crap, but unfortunately, I won't correct it yet. Perhaps when I'm finished Blackheart.. hmm..**

**So... want to know what Marik plans to do to him as carnal punishment? Well hurry up and review then!! **

**And as soon as the duel(which will be done in 2 parts, by the way,) gets underway, the finals are finally going to start in at the most three chapters... for the 15th one? Yeap. Okay! So nothing left for me to say but review please, and make Seiri happy!**

**Oh, and Seiri has finally opened to the public! If you guys out there want to contribute, feel free, I'd appreciate it! But don't bother flaming, because I'll ignore and delete them. ...Sometimes, if I'm lacking, you can help for the 6 reviews I need for update, but strictly, they WON'T apply for that. However, they're still welcomed openly, and critical appraisal is fine...**

**Until next time, which is hopefully soon!!! **


	13. Chpt 12 Salt and Morality

**A/n: Thaaank you soo much to all my reviewers! *huggles* I'm sorry it was so late...! I was trying to work out for ages how much detail and exactly how graphic to make it...It wrecked my head... I hope I did a good job on this....:P Ah, and I got SEVEN reviews for the last chapter, so to keep everyone happy and as a little thank-you, I made the results of this little Bakura-chain-up scene a full chapter on their own!! And I'm sure Millenniumthief will love this one especially... well-more than the last, as may plenty of you!! (Bakura...*hint*hint*... ^^I wrote this with you in mind...)I don't want to spoil anything in advance, so I'll actually stop commenting on it now.**

**Ps... S and M= Salt and Morality, the chapter name... :D :D (Instead of the usual sense of the letters... You'll understand plenty when you've finished the chappie..)**

**CONTENT WARNING: Ra, I REALLY mean it this time. I think this is perhaps the most graphic chapter yet. If you are at all unsure of whether you can handle high levels of Yaoi and quite explicit content, PLEASE DON'T READ!!!!! I warned! And warned good!! .....Last chances!!! **

**Disclaimer: Yeah... since this is a teenage anime and I've gone and done this now, I seriously doubt I own it. But we can dream, I suppose! ^^**

**Chapter 12- Salt and Morality**

"So… you ready to obey me properly or do you need another reminder of who's in charge here?" Marik grinned from his throne atop Bakura's lap. The demon only stared back in answer, his deep chocolaty eyes sparkling with regret, perhaps of managing to find himself in this position… but was that also a hint of amusement??

He broke into a grin, his trademark animalistic fangs curving handsomely down his lower lip.

"Obey you? What did you have in mind, Marik? I'm chained to a chair, lest I remind you…!"

"I _mean_, you will not answer back to me; you will be what I ask of you, and you shall carry out my orders without question!"

"And what are your orders then, o master?" The white-haired teen snapped back, the sarcasm dripping slowly from each word like a leaky tap. Marik froze; how was he still being so difficult, managing to inconvenience him whilst tied up and helpless? He let his hand fall roughly downwards- the force of the impact it made managed to turn his friend's head away from him sharply, but still, when our villain recoiled from the shock once again of his own daring, Bakura was grinning back, a strange sense of lust dancing in his eyes.

"I dare you to do that again..."

"Don't tell me you like it?" It was more of a statement when it left our villain's mouth, but still he asked the question. Why on earth would anyone like the pain of being hit? ..Marik certainly didn't like pain. His back still sometimes stung again now after the injuries re-explored in the accident, and it reminded him each time of that great suffering he'd drowned in years ago… the bite of the knife, deep down it drove into tanned flesh… the great attack of a thousand needles… blood, hot, hot salty blood dripping down his sides and staining the sheets red…

He shuddered even at the thought of it, and anger he never even knew he had had came welling up inside him.

"What is wrong with you!! What's your real reason of being here, if it's not to help me?" This anger caused him to leap back to his feet, and he glared threateningly down at his associate. He was still totally mind-consuming, when he was tied up, but while he still continued to talk back and dominate our villain without even touching him, it spoilt the beautiful image somewhat.

"Whoever said I wasn't? Perhaps if you let me go then you'll actually see that for yourself!"

_He's just trying to psyche you out, Marik… this spirit could be anyone for all I know…! He may be beautiful… but I can't be fooled by that!_

"No chance. Perhaps we will, however, see whether you are indeed better than I at controlling yourself… we'll put that to the test instead, as your punishment."

"Aren't you supposed to be brainwashing Yugi's pathetic friends, instead of trying to punish me in a way you have no idea how I'll react to?" He inquired sweetly, still head half-bowed, but not in submission. In fact, Marik had no idea what he was dealing with, let alone who he was trying to seduce.

"I have enough time," slowly, he climbed back to his friend's lap, and stared him down again. Bakura gazed back, relentlessly, a gleam of something unrecognisable in his eyes.

"Well let's see your best shot then. I assure you, with the practice I've had, my dear, you have neither the time nor the skill to make me pull what you did in the shop back there…" he replied, darkly, British snarl echoing in the darkness.

"We'll see about that," Marik grinned back, sealing the challenge, and leant his head towards the other's slowly.

"Indeed," smirked the unfortunate spirit of the ring, this time rising to meet the other head on.

Their lips came together roughly, the spirit wasting no time in invading our villain's mouth despite his early lack of interest. Marik was almost surprised- he didn't recoil though, he fought back harder than he had yet, their tongues weaving a war-dance in the damp cavities. The whole feeling that engulfed him with the messy, erotic open-mouthed kisses had taken hold around him, and so; the challenge began.

…After all, he'd just unwittingly put his pride on the line again, by agreeing to this. If he did indeed lose and the spirit was a lot harder to turn on and force to climax than he expected, then he'd look even worse for his accidental slip of control back in the shop. But if he could show Bakura a little thing or two, then he'd regain all of his lost dignity… and have something on the over-confident spirit.

When the lack of oxygen was getting to him, he had just pulled away and taken a deep breath, when he felt something soft brush his cheek, and glancing upwards, it was Bakura's hair. It felt so soft and cool against his hot face, tickling but ever so silky.

"Giving up already?" the spirit sneered quietly between his own quiet rapid breaths, voice uncomfortably close to our villain's ear. Marik glanced down at the side of his face. The mere gravity of their battle a second ago had already gotten to him slightly, and he could feel his temperature rise with the swirl of provoked hormones.

"Giving up?" Why did he have to pull away first…! That was exactly what Bakura had been waiting on, and with that, Marik felt two fangs close loosely across the top of his ear. An erotic shiver ran up his spine, and he pulled heavily out of the spirit's mouth.

He hated people touching him there, especially Bakura. And especially so early in their little game.

"What's wrong? Have I found your weakness too early?" the chained-up demon grinned, with a lewd smile, sliding a little lower in the chair, and instinctively Marik grabbed his shoulder to straighten himself.

"No, you need to learn that lesson I was on about earlier, about obeying me," he spat back as he dropped and locked the white-haired demon into another kiss. He let his hands wander the length of his friend's arms, across the turned-up end of his baby-blue shirt sleeves, and down the sides of his pale, bare skin. The spirit responded- our crafty little genius felt his shoulders relax ever so slightly… he continued down the rough material around his sides, smoothing it all the way down until the curves of his hips. They broke away rapidly, staring into each other's eyes. Bakura's mouth was curved roughly into a dirty smirk, his eyes two dark voids of midnight hazel.

"Well teach me then, o master," he whispered icily back, while our villain was finding the edge of the blue and white fabric. Once he had, he forced the material up to the constraint of the chains, and dropped his head to his friend's neck. Marik hadn't really had much experience in this sort of game, unfortunately, so not only was he unaware of the type of person he was dealing with, but he was disadvantaged in the area of application too… The only thing he had to go on was instinct, and his preferences himself.

"Hmm..." the proud demon stretched hungrily, inclining his head to allow Marik easier access to the tender, pale skin in this area. "You're picking up some of my moves, aren't you?" he asked; low voice betraying his enjoyment.

Marik raised his lips slightly, and bit Bakura harshly until he recoiled.

"I see it's not failing, though," he grinned quietly, melting further into the demon's lap. He could feel, because of his position, that his tactics were already taking effect. And even as he ran his tongue the length of his friend's jaw, he felt Bakura stiffen further.

"Ah yes, remember you sitting on me works both ways," he whispered throatily, turning back and licking the part of our villain's ear he could reach. Marik lifted his head rapidly, and they stared at each other in the dim light the rod was making. After all, Bakura was right; he was already hard himself.

"Wouldn't it be quite amusing if I made you have another…_accident_?"

"Bakura, there is no way that's going to happen,"

"Oh? Says who? You're going to have to work incredibly hard if you want to catch me out, I hope you remember…"

There was a loud clatter as the rod hit the floor, Marik seizing his associate into another crushing kiss, their heads bowed together in concentration.

Marik's hands were knotted through Bakura's white mane, he lifted himself up with his knees until he was at least a head higher than the demon, hopelessly lost in the challenge.

_At least he's chained up… I have no worries there…_

Finally he drew away, still holding Bakura's head steady.

"So… was that it?" he teased, dark eyes sparkling in lust. Our villain slid lower, and dropped his head to his beautiful friend's collarbone and layered a few angled, slightly open-mouthed kisses the length of it, making sure to massage the pale skin with the tip of his tongue.

"Ah…"

He knotted his hands beneath Bakura's t-shirt, caressing the curve of his bare flesh underneath, and slowly slid the band of his white jeans lower, exposing two deliciously curved hips.

"Marik, go lower…"

Our villain was about to obey, when he felt himself drop a few inches as Bakura spread his legs apart.

_Is he just leading me on, or am I really getting to him?_

Marik could feel first-hand the space evaporating in his jeans, the sleek hardness pressing deep into him as he obeyed and could no longer tell whether it was a windup. All he knew was that his own body screamed out to be buried deep in him, to force him to cry out in ecstasy.

And Bakura was still chained to a chair.

"Should you… be telling me… what you like? I though this was a competition…" he reminded him, dropping from his lap to the floor, and crouching illusively between his legs. Bakura's hazel eyes were shut, but one opened hazily when Marik appeared to have halted and fixed him in a piercing glare, full of lust and impatience for him to continue.

"I may do as I like, Marik…And lest I remind you, you only have about a half-hour until the Pharaoh arrives," he growled, "So if you want to try and defeat me in this challenge, then I suggest you do as I instruct,"

Marik ran his hands the length of the inside of Bakura's thighs, right up to the strong hardness between his legs, and the demon tensed slightly, his lucid glare dripping like honey.

"But I'm not the one tied up at the moment," Marik grinned back, with an uncharacteristically dirty grin as he leaned in for Bakura's stomach, and ran his tongue the length of the pale skin once.

The sexual tension was killing him; he knew he was at least beginning to get to his boastful friend anyways, and was determined to force him to orgasm if it was the last thing he did. And if that meant he had to come himself- he didn't mind as long as it was inside his beautiful white-haired associate.

"Ah, well let's see your best shot already, then…" snarled Bakura, his face unfortunately betraying his own inner frustration, curved in concentration and glimmering desire. Our villain sat back on his haunches, struggling back from the spirit's knees closing around him.

"You want me?" he grinned, raising one eyebrow and forcing himself to ignore the clear lack of space beneath his own belt as he waited, surveying the spirit with an erotic shiver.

_Ra, this is my best dream come true…_

"…My patience wears thin, Marik…" His head was turned away from our villain as if he could no longer bear to look at him, but out of the corner of one bright, unfocused eye he was staring at him tenaciously.

Marik, with the weight of Bakura's full attention, inserted a finger in his mouth and sucked on it slightly. When he extracted it, a full rope of saliva dripped down his palm, sticky and moist. The spirit watched on, pretended unsuccessfully to be uninterested, and when our villain finally inserted the salivated finger into his associate's bellybutton, he knew what he'd got himself into. Marik, finally dominant, quickly applied as much pressure as he could, until he'd run it the length of Bakura's midriff, leaving a shiny trail of spit behind and causing a surge of hot blood to the other's lower body.

He grinned as he watched over his friend after doing this, who arched his back desperately against the chair for freedom, and hid his face against his shoulder in desperaton. Marik had to bite his lip in an attempt to hold back _himself_, from simply watching his friend writhe beneath his grip. (_Just how it should be…_)

He leaned in slowly, allowing his shallow breaths to wash over the spirit's skin before he began to lap up the remaining liquid he'd left in this space, letting his tongue search the small space like his body longed to do in the inside of the other. He could feel the toned muscles below his mouth tighten frantically, and pulled both of the spirit's thighs roughly against his shoulders to stop him from struggling so hard.

The millennium rod glimmered sadly from the floor, forgotten in the weight of the swirling hot darkness the boys had created.

"W..where in the name of Zork… did…you learn…. to do that…?" gasped the low British growl, as soon as he'd recovered enough to talk, breathing more ragged and irregular than Marik had ever seen it yet.

"Never underestimate an Ishtar," Marik snarled back, lifting his head slightly and pulling at the waistband of Bakura's white jeans with his teeth.

"Indeed…. So you want to hurry this up…? You don't have much time left…" he reminded Marik with an impatient snarl.

"But last time I checked, this was about you resisting me? Why would you be telling me to hurry up if you weren't close?"

"You keep underestimating me, Marik… Truthfully you're probably closer than I am, but you'll never find out if I'm lying if you don't carry on…"

_I know he's just bluffing…he has to be… But what can I do to push him over soon, before I end up coming again?_

He pulled at the button binding Bakura's jeans wildly with his teeth, until it came open. Once the pale, lilly-white flesh lay exposed beneath, he layered the lightest of kisses across it, all the while gently massaging the back of his thighs with both hands.

"Marik…"

Our villain grinned; he knew Bakura could feel it against his skin. The tone of his voice was barely as confident as it had been, it was low and strained in such a way that he'd never heard before.

_Beautiful…simply beautiful…_

"Marik…go lower…"

Our villain slid his hands further up, almost right between Bakura's legs, and considered slightly. He had to force his associate to orgasm, but wasn't convinced to lower his pride so low as to take the fiercely erect organ in his mouth to do so.

…He'd heard about this, and it didn't interest him greatly. Perhaps if Bakura wanted to degrade himself for Marik, he wouldn't complain too much. But just the thought of it…

"Marik… I'm serious… I…"

He'd never heard Bakura's voice like this yet. It was full of some mistranslated urgency, low to the point of strain… panic?

_He must__ be close… I just hope I can hold on myself… It's a dream come true…one of those obscure dreams which wrecks my sheets, alas…_

"What was that?" our villain asked, getting to his feet and attempting to slide down the jeans by lifting his friend slightly. They could not be persuaded to be pulled further than the curve of his thighs, however, and exposed navy boxers, just begging to be removed.

"That's it…go ahead and do the honours, Marik…" The spirit chided, tossing his head proudly, his earlier weakness appearing to dry up on the spot. "I would help, only I'm tied up, remember? You _do_ want to win, right?"

His eyes shone with malice like our villain had never seen, two glinting pools of liquid bronze complimenting two exposed fangs.

_Ra… where did this strength come from all of a sudden? _

"Wait a minute, Bakura. I know your strategy now. You want me to waste all of my energy straight away, don't you?…Well I have a plan myself…and I see how you hate waiting…" he hovered above the lump constrained by navy material, heart pounding with nerves.

_What if Bakura was right? What if I can't make him come? Should I really do as he says..? No… my pride is worth more than that. But what if it's the only way to win…?_

"Come on, I'm getting bored here.."

Rather than answering, our villain seized the silky material beneath his teeth right above the pulsing organ and pulled. Bakura raised his body slightly, allowing him to slide them down enough to expose the stiff member.

_Dear Osiris…_

"So… you like what you see?" asked the demon sarcastically, sliding down further in the chair until Mairk, frozen in surprise, was almost touching the swollen organ. He grinned down proudly himself at it, almost as if he knew what Marik was thinking.

"You're…" suddenly, there was a noise; a foreign noise from somewhere close, which took a moment or two to register properly in their current states.

There was someone coming in the door.

"Master! We have an emergency! One of the hosta-…." Suddenly, with a horribly sickening lurch in the pit of his stomach, Marik raised his head to peer across the top of Bakura's bare thigh.

It was Odeon who stood before them, in disbelieving silence… frozen in place by horror.

"M..master.. I…"

"Ever heard of knocking, fool?" snapped Bakura impatiently, inclining his head roughly until his fringe obscured his eyes threateningly. Marik's words froze in his throat, aware of his friend's cock less than three inches from his face, still.

"This… this isn't what it looks like!" he yelped, attempting to cover Bakura slightly. However, staring up into his face, the spirit looked very smug and forced him to recoil inside slightly when he remembered what had pushed him over the edge in the shop.

_That'd be all I need…_

He was as horrified as Odeon looked right now, his heart pounding roughly and own erection throbbed dangerously when he tightened his arms about Bakura's middle. A hand wove its way through our villain's hair gently, almost in an effort to comfort him.

A stunned silence had descended upon the room, nobody moving for fear of something happening to cause more embarrassment.

"Ah… I'll come back… i…in a minute…" Finally the cloaked servant bowed out, and Marik stared up at his associate with wide eyes, still not releasing him.

Bakura was grinning, hand slowly moving through our villain's hair. It took a second, but finally Marik realised what was wrong with that sentence.

"Bakura…you're…free! How did you do that?" The chains fell to the ground with a metallic clatter, finally released by his other hand and Bakura sat free, grinning wildly like some sort of rabid hyena before him.

"Well…your first mistake was attempting to chain up a thief. Your second was becoming distracted long enough to allow me enough time to free myself.

…Now, it sounds like you're needed elsewhere. Are you going to attempt to still win this challenge, in this last few minutes… or… do you give up?" He asked, gathering our villain closer to him and bending double, so that their noses were almost touching. Marik could still feel the spirit's erection against his front, half-buried in the opening of his jacket and on his bare chest as he stared up into his demonic chocolate irises.

…_No. Why should I? If he wants relief, that's the last thing I'm giving him! He can go embarrass himself elsewhere!_

……_I can't believe Odeon saw that!! What must he think of me now??_

"Why should I? What will it accomplish now that Odeon walked in on us like that!? If you want relief after that, go do it yourself. I'm going." He went to get to his feet. After all, no matter how close Bakura may have been or may still be to orgasm, it wouldn't be worth it at all if it didn't humiliate him in the process. Now that he was free, it was over.

Or at least, that's what Marik thought.

A hand forced him back to his knees, until he was staring down the still erect organ, free of any constraints.

"You started this competition, so you _will _finish. Let's see you make me come,"

"I just said- I'm…" a porcelain hand seized a rough grip of a chunk of his blond hair, and jerked his head back.

"Don't you want to know how I taste?"

"Bakura- let go of me!" Marik struggled, but the hand refused to let go of his hair, and he pushed frantically at Bakura's inner thigh, tightening his fingernails and attempting to tear a chunk out of him in his panic. He could not manage to reach the millennium rod, and the pain from his scalp eventually forced him to succumb, slumping reluctantly before him.

"Look at that, Marik. You've made my leg bleed again. ...Now be a good boy and clean some of it off for me," the low, rough British snarl instructed, and he was forced closer to the wound he had just inflicted. The blood was hot and salty, when his lips touched the cut, but he stayed perfectly still, praying for release. He could feel the vein pulsing with the weight of pumping blood through it, and when he drew away without ever opening his mouth, the crimson liquid dribbled down the lilly-white flesh hungrily, in a thick river.. unlike the small trickle now dripping towards his chin.

"You let me go!!" Marik suddenly roared, breaking away from his grip momentarily and sinking his teeth around the wound, pressing deep until he could taste the iron-like, salty taste of Bakura's blood. Perhaps then he'd know how it felt to be bitten! ..And he'd think twice about doing this to our villain so nonchalantly!!

In response, the spirit did cry out in some strangled gasp of surprise, but a second later when Marik raised his head, blood dripping down from the corner of his mouth like some sort of vampire and coughed dryly, Bakura stared down at him, the pain swirling along with the lust and desire in his dark eyes.

"I never knew you cared so much for the taste of my blood," he grinned, showing two animalistic fangs.

_What the-… he LIKED that?? Hmm… so you have a fetish for blood, then, do you??_

"I don't," Marik assured him indignantly, glad all the pain and uncomfortable conditions had helped in partially getting rid of his own erection. "It tastes like over-cooked brussel sprouts," If only he could manage to leave his associate alone, and escape himself, it was the closest to winning this challenge that he wanted to get. That way, neither would be satisfied. It would be a draw.

Bakura laughed, a harsh British bark. He extended a hand, and with a finger, gently wiped the line of crimson painting it's way from the corner of Marik's lips down to his chin, and slowly raised it to his own mouth.

"Oh, you sure know what I enjoy, don't you?" he grinned darkly, as he licked the length of his own finger, seductively.

"What do you mean?"

"It means, my dear, it's time to finish this…" he pulled the back of Marik's hair roughly once again, until he was staring at the crouched demon's face half hidden by snowy fringe, down the length of his cock.

Our villain swallowed nervously, trying to clear the taste of blood from his mouth, his heart pounding and palms damp in fear.

_How in the name of Ra did I manage to end up in this predicament anyway??_

"Put it in your mouth," he growled, jerking Marik's head back further. Neither of them could mistake what he'd meant by that.

"No!" Our villain struggled, aware that if the spirit were to climax here, he was in danger of being covered by the ejaculation-worse than he'd done to Bakura, since it'd be his face in the firing line and that was well more embarrassing than having it on his t-shirt…

"You want to win, right? Well get ready to …taste victory…" Our villain was just about to shout for help, to call Odeon as his last and final resort, when something else was forced in to obscure the words in his throat.

He froze, gasped and choked from the unfamiliar taste of this part of his friend, and tried desperately to pull back and avoid touching said 'part' with any of his own mouth. Bakura was still clinging to the handful of hair, though, and refused to let him back away.

"Now… you know what to do," the snarl above him instructed, dipping uncontrollably with pleasure towards the end. He could feel him moving gently inside his mouth, and fought desperately for freedom. With each stroke, Marik could feel the spirit's grip loosening in uncontrollable ecstasy. Seeing a possible escape, he tightened his whole mouth around the stiff organ, and pushed down hard with his tongue. He knew he'd never get used to the taste, or sensation. It was simply terrible! But if he could end it very quickly, perhaps it'd spare him somewhat from the emotional trauma he was already beginning to succumb to.

He could feel his friend's body heaving in turmoil, hear his half-jagged gasps, and would have enjoyed seeing him so lost in ecstasy and hormones immensely, had he have been in a different position. Here, all he could do was tighten each time against Bakura's cock and attempt to refuse him re-entry each time he pulled back to drive further in. When he could feel the blood throb harder through the organ, sense some sort of climax was imminent, he knew he had to escape. And there was only one way Marik could think of to do that.

As Bakura pulled nearly out of him for the hundredth time(or at least, this is what it seemed like to our poor nauseous villain…), he found the front of his foreskin with his teeth, and bit as hard as he could. Bakura pulled back sharply…

And Marik was rewarded.

The orgasm ripped through him with a yelp of some Egyptian god as he left, but sadly, our villain was not released fast enough.

He coughed and gagged, seconds later, bent double as the white liquid spilled from his mouth, and dribbled down his chin. It was hot and salty, thick and such a texture it almost caused the contents of his stomach to eject in shock.

_Holy Ra… Dear sweet Isis… I just… he just…_

He wiped his mouth desperately with his wrist, anything to get rid of the taste, but still as he choked and coughed, he was sure he'd still managed to ingest far too much of it for comfort.

The stone floor shone with the illuminated semen, Marik desperately fought being sick, and Bakura stood up from the chair, presumably pulling up his jeans and boxers. A small scrap of material, perhaps the same as the one from the shop, fluttered to the floor before our choking villain, and Bakura crouched down unexpectedly on his haunches, forcing Marik's head up to look at him with two fingers.

"What's wrong?" he asked, the swirling chocolate orbs calm and lazily patient once again, Marik staring back in disbelief. He was broken.

It appeared Marik had won, although ultimately, it was Bakura who had truly prevailed. The aim of this exercise was to force the spirit to come in some embarrassing way, not for him to do it by severely embarrassing Marik instead. It was over. He couldn't answer the white-haired spirit, the glistening white semen on the ground not half as pure white as his mane.

"Surely you must be happy you won… what's wrong, Marik? Don't you like the taste of victory?" he leaned in towards our villain's face, and Marik gasped slightly when Bakura extended a tongue and licked off the remnants of his own orgasm, replacing the stanched, unholy white with wet saliva. Our villain couldn't answer, for fear of vomiting all over him.

"Hmm… well I do, anyways," he muttered a second later, their heads together as he bent lower and forced his way into Marik's mouth with his tongue.

_Not only is this bad enough,_ he thought, frustrated almost to the verge of tears, _Since I don't even like this open-mouthed kissing… but now…_

_I…_

Bakura pulled away from the messy kiss, another rope of saliva still joining them, and Marik noticed the taste in his mouth was not quite as gut-wrenching as previously.

"That better?" he asked, strangely tender-like, but our villain pulled desperately away from him, and got shakily to his feet.

"Stay away from me," he gasped, his voice a lot shakier and deeper than he'd meant for. The rod lay on the ground not far from the discarded chains, and Marik seized it roughly.

"If you thought you were safe after this, then I suggest you think again!" he snarled, spat once onto the ground, and breezed out of the room, leaving a bewildered spirit of the ring standing at it's centre.

"Safe? Me?" he smiled, apparently to himself.

………………………………....................................................................

_Make sure you knock him unconscious, this time…don't be gentle about it, either… and listen very carefully to my instructions now, rare hunters, on exactly what I want you to do with him after that!_

Marik took a deep breath across the sink bowl, and stared deep into his pale eyes opposite in the mirror, flashing violet in rage.

_You'll pay for this, spirit… you'll pay with something dear… And while you suffer, I'll laugh at your misfortune! NOBODY… and I mean Nobody, does such things to Marik Ishtar and gets away with it!!! When I am Pharaoh, you shall be my __dog__, and I'll keep you on such a tight leash you'll never be able to do anything like that ever again!!_

There was a knock.

"Master… It's me, master. What happened? The hunters have taken him away now,"

Marik sighed, got up to open the door and ran a hand through his long blond hair to steady his breathing.

When he'd opened the bathroom door, there stood the bald servant, concern showing prominently in his tanned face. Marik knew it was un-necessary to cause him any worry by telling him the truth(not that he would have, anyway,) and instead put on a brave face which did not betray any of the strange emotions he was confronted with.

"I'm…. fine. Now- is there any sign of Yugi yet?"

"That's what I tried to tell you earlier. One of the prisoners managed to escape! I..I don't know how it happened, but forgive me, master. It's all my fault. We've sent someone to go look for her at the moment…"

Marik tossed his head impatiently. He could still taste the horrible, salty taste of the spirit's come in his mouth, even though he'd drank almost a whole bottle of mouthwash… and it bothered him.

A lot.

"All right. As long as you do," he snapped, and Odeon noticed immediately the unusual response his little master had given.

"Are you serious? Are you sure you're okay, Marik?" he wondered aloud. "Is this any thing to do with….Bakura...?"

"_I'm fine_!! And mind your own business! Now…you work on catching that brat while I go to keep a lookout for the Pharaoh…!" he spat, taking the stunned look of his servant as a cue to leave, breezing out the door past him.

_If Bakura's trying to mess with my head, it's not working! I swear, if I ever get the chance, he is going to pay for his deeds! I swear by the nameless Pharaoh I plan to dethrone that he won't be the only one being put in their place!_

…_Ra, how many times do I have to wash my mouth to get rid of this taste, already??_

**A/n: *Buries head in hands* Oh, dear Ra... *smiles weakly* heh... Am I the only one who was not expecting that out_come???_....Ahem...? 0: D: D: D: D:Ah, and for a Bakurafangirl like me, for some reason I was completely disturbed by this chapter. NO!!! BAKURA, YOU BAKA!!!! DON'T EVER DO THAT TO POOR MARIK-KUN AGAIN!!!!!! *desperately huggles traumatised Marik***

**...^^* okay... I'm done. You now know what I thought, but I want to know your reaction too! D: I know it was graphic, but I hope I didn't mentally scar anyone else out there. And if I did....T.T I'm truly sorry! *cries***

**As I have said, I can no longer judge my own writing. I'm trying to keep them in character, and stuff... but if you think I'm not doing a good job of it, or if Seiri needs a slap for something else, then feel free to tell me by all means....-_-.. And I've been trying to keep all of this as real as possible, so please feel free to drop me a line saying how you think all that's going too...^__^**

**And a big thanks to all my reviewers... Seiri luffs you all so much...:D You guys can help me get over the trauma I underwent while writing this, can't you??? *sniffle* (And if you find any mistakes, please tell me. I don't like to read over this chapter at all and only did so once, so I may have missed some stuffs...D:) Urh, the next two chappies I plan for to be the long-awaited duel, and hope you all enjoyed your bonus ... um... thing....that I hadn't planned to do...(I certainly didn't.....X___X) All right, nothing left to say now, but... please review and tell me your thoughts...! **

**(Oh, and was this okay for you, Millenniumthief? I wrote this to it's *ahem* climax, because of your previous requests/suggestions in some of you latest reviews... please tell me how I did....^^;)**

**..Don't bother flaming, though... Seiri warned about the content, so it was your own fault you carried on reading!!!**** Ah, okay....until next time....!**


	14. Chpt 13 By my rules

**A/N: Okay, I'm back after a short little hiatus. I swear to Horus, I'm such a deviant art lurker lately. ^^; Yeps, that's where I've been every night of the three weeks I haven't spoken to y'all. And I haven't even been doing anything interesting there, either....T~T.... Ah, I know some of you reviewers have already found me over there, namely Crystal-of-moonlight, Sun-chan and Black-Neko-chan, but if anyone else wants to add me, go ahead! ^^ I have a link up on my profile page here, and may occasionally do fanart for this story there, so go check it out from time to time.**

**Now, back to more important things. This story. I've recruited a few new readers and reviewers from DA, so that's how there's so much activity around here lately. But thank you! And hello to the few annonymous reviewers I got last chapter; that was a lovely suprise in itself and if you're ever around in the future, I'd love it if you dropped another review in while you're here!! *huggles all her readers thoroughly* Nyah~ I love you guys!! ^____^ And I'm sorry I had to take a break for three weeks... I missed you all.. but I'm back now! Yay!**

**And without further ado, here's chapter 13. WooooOoooOOo... anyone superstitious??**

**Disclaimer: Even as my hiatus comes to an end, I still do not own Yugioh or any of it's smexy villains. :D**

**Chapter 13- By my rules**

The air was stagnant when Marik pushed open the warehouse doors, a wash of hot, heavy breeze that threatened the beginnings of thunder met his tanned skin.

It was almost ten minutes since he had gladly left Bakura's company, and still he felt nauseous and spacey.

_I must not let this phase me… If Bakura wants to play his revolting games, then I'll be forced to deal with his insolence later. Now, the Pharaoh and his rival, Seto Kaiba should be arriving any minute and I have plenty of planning to be doing… after all, it seems now's a perfect time to demonstrate some of my authority to this unruly spirit of the ring!_

He crossed the courtyard with quiet steps, the warehouse closest to the one he had just left looming closer with every passing second. The rod glowed independently from him; his overflowing anger channelling through it's golden surface, twining easily with it's magical energies to create light.

The bay to his right twinkled and winked diamonds at our villain between the crack separating the warehouses, shimmering blue, framing a structure mounted on the waves. It was wooden and tall, beams holding up something silvery and heavy at it's peak. A few hunters Marik picked out against the backdrop of the water were working around it, and he grinned internally to himself.

_Soon everything will be in place… I will have my revenge… and Bakura will know his place belongs at my feet…!_

The door opened easily to admit him, and this warehouse was just as dark and quiet as the one he had just left. There were less people around in here, and the ones which were there, standing around happened to be guards.

"Where are they?" asked our villain, the rod licking the floor with a steady wash of illumination before him as he strode swiftly towards them.

A man with long dark hair approached, bowing low.

"They're out the back, master…"

"And the kid? Did you separate him?" Marik asked urgently. Where was Odeon when he was needed?

"Yes, master Marik…"

"Where is Odeon?"

"..I haven't seen him around, master…"

Marik grumbled his displeasure at this, and exhaled deeply.

"Well get back to work, you fool!"

He reached out with his mind, the rod's steady glow brightening briefly.

_Where are you..? Remember your part of the plan? I need you here in warehouse five, right now! The Pharaoh could show up any minute and we must be ready…!_

The reply came almost immediately, and because of the steady echo, Marik knew he was somewhere near.

"_Yes, master Marik… I'll be there in a minute… you wish to take the mind of the young one first?"_

…_I have no idea how he'll react, Odeon. I need to make sure it'll be easy to manipulate his mind while being preoccupied. You know that this won't be an easy task…_

A second later the door opened behind him and without even needing to look up, our villain knew his servant had his back. He could always tell Odeon's approach from the sound of his footsteps…this skill stemmed back into his childhood, when they'd play hide-and seek together in the dimly illuminated passages… how long ago that seemed…

He'd have his back here, like always, at least, in case anything else went wrong…

But then, what exactly, about a nine-year-old kid, would Marik Ishtar have to fear…?

The door at the back was heaved open, and the tanned, caped servant slid in first. As soon as he had entered, Marik heard an angry voice raise to the shadows.

"Hey! Let me go, already! Don't you know who I am? …I'm the battle city's official administrator! If my big brother finds out about this-" the boy chirped angrily.

"You talk too much…" the deep, curved voice of the servant echoed back, threateningly into the darkness. Marik slid into the room behind them… unnoticed, and the rod began to glow in anticipation in his hands. He'd heard the true tone of this caring man's voice, and to hear it twisted into something so…spooky… at his request, made him grin at the very least.

_Thank you, Odeon…_

The little boy before them had a thick wash of jet-black hair down his back and two bright, glistening gray eyes stared his attacker down, so vibrant and full of life. His clothes were tousled from the kidnapping, but one object caught Marik's eye from where he stood. The pendant he was wearing which fell forward down his chest, was in the shape of a tan-backed trading card. A clasp glistened at it's side, hinting of it's true use. His whole attire was as lively as any other little kid, innocence blinding him to just how much danger he was actually in.

That is, until our crafty little mind-controlling villain behind had descended like a vulture to his tender, succulent consciousness. It held no challenge, no resistance met his effort as he consumed it, and shortly the small brother of the CEO was deeply under Marik's control.

"Excellent…that was much easier than I expected… now, will be the great test…" he grinned darkly, the temporary, ever-changing shadows cast from the rod momentarily crossing his face and enveloping it in a turbulent, stormy expression.

Mokuba Kaiba, whose once lively eyes were lit by childish innocence, were now dim and empty as he sat quietly against his bindings, no longer struggling, his life-force lost to age-old powers.

………………………………......................................................................

"You gonna let me outta here?! Huh, think you're so tough, don't you, you bald, tattooed freakzoid! Well why don't you untie me so we can see for real who's tougher! Hmm..? …Huhhh?!"

He snarled and struggled hard against the chains, almost as Bakura had-except just with less grace or self-awareness. Odeon's expression before him was relentless, he glared darkly back at the captured teen as if to prevent his instant struggling, and slowly extended a hand toward him.

"Hey…! Keep your greasy paws off'a me!!" the prey snorted, tossing a honey-ish golden head proudly. Marik was rather glad at this point that he was well-behind Joey Wheeler, and that he was tied up so that he would not see in our villain's direction.

_Yes… you are a fine example of a mind-slave- headstrong…stubborn, and not afraid of anything… you shall be perfect for taking the puzzle from that blasted Pharaoh, and giving me what I want, once and for all! If Bakura can't do it, then you shall not fail me, my mindslave! Now, Joey Wheeler…open your eyes in my control!_

He reached out until he could feel his conscience rub against the dirty blonde's, and tried to force his way in. This time though, a weight like Marik had never felt before came down around them, almost knocking the strength out of him-…was this mutt fighting back??

He struggled against the weight, trying to delve deeper, but the barrier was just too strong….The rod let out a fierce burst of power which crushed the pressure Joey's mind created around his, and slowly, like grains of sand falling through his fingers, the wall came crumbling down.

The great Joey Wheeler had fallen, as predicted.

_Excellent…nobody can resist the magical energies of the Millennium rod… you __**will**__ win me that puzzle, Joey Wheeler, and you __**will**__ get me the god cards, you hear me??_

He called for the younger boy's mind too, and behind him the door opened, heralding his newer puppet's entrance.

"Take off the bindings, and prepare their decks for the duel," Marik ordered, only pausing long enough to make sure the caped servant before him had understood.

Then he left, striding much more confidently out than he had on his way in…

………………………………...................................................................

As soon as he'd left, he was aware immediately of a second pair of footsteps echoing his. Without caring to look behind him, he sped up slightly, and became just the smallest bit alarmed when the secondary steps quickened likewise. He was heading towards the wooden structure above the waves, a square wooden path with enormous beams, holding up a glistening silver anchor, but now he made the slightest inflection to his path, towards the large cruiser ship parked at the side of the dock. There were hundreds of empty windows staring down over him, and it was slightly eerie… like a thousand mindless eyes of five hundred slaves, all fixed on him simultaneously.

He could see something in the distance- something approaching in the sky. A helicopter? He glanced back at the slaves setting up the wooden structure, and grinned.

_Everything's in place…excellent… it's all coming together…_

That is… until he turned around.

Someone was stumbling down the path towards him, someone with long, auburn hair that flowed down her back like a bubbling river. She paused every few seconds, reaching out for the walls, to steady herself and to recuperate from the effort.

"What the-" our villain gasped aloud, despite himself. It was the blind sister of his newest mindslave, Serenity.

_How in the name of sweet Osiris did a blind girl get past my hunters like that?!?_

"H…hello?" she gasped, helplessly. Marik stood there, motionless as a rabbit caught in the headlights, completely unsure of how to proceed…

_What in the name of Ra happened for her to escape…?_

Then, finally, a plot began to form in his mind, a plot to use her for something…this was but a minor detail in the bigger picture…

"Se…Serenity…?"

"W…who's there?"

"It's me, Namu…! Did you manage to escape too…?" Marik stood grinning; he hoped the smile did not inflect in his voice too badly, but he couldn't help himself, since this was the perfect plan…!

"Oh… Namu! What are we going to do to get away from this Marik guy? We have to find the others…they helped me to escape but the rare hunters moved them then…"

_So those runts helped you to escape, did they?_

"Ah… I…we'd better go and get help," Marik answered, his voice softening instantly unlike his expression. "That way, we can get everyone out without risking our own safety..!" He took a few hesitative steps towards the shivering girl.

"We can't leave…! I won't go without my brother!" she gasped, high voice wavering with worry, as she made her way towards Marik.

"Look, we must! I don't want to leave Bakura either, he's still trapped here, but we have to if we want to save them! We have no idea what this Marik guy is up to!" he reasoned, sliding the rod through it's usual spot, his back belt hook.

_Fool!_

There was something stirring from behind them, and Marik only had time to turn around before he was face-to-face with a huge white helicopter in the process of landing. The slogan 'Kaiba Corp' was emblazoned on it's side, and the windows were blackened as if the inhabitants didn't wish to be seen… but our villain already knew who it was, anyways. Truly, who else would be arriving randomly on the docks in an official helicopter if it wasn't Seto Kaiba and the Pharaoh?

The massive airborne vehicle touched down gently, whipping up a hurricane from it's propeller which clawed hungrily at Marik's clothes and tossed his hair around violently. (_Just great… after I'd brushed it so carefully this morning…_)

"Namu…! What's going on…?" cried the little voice behind him, and he turned back around, now almost face-to-face with Joey's sister. In his mind at that exact moment, he'd never been so close to another female who didn't happen to be his sister. (However this probably isn't true, but yet it made it's impact on him when she finally reached him and grabbed him around the waist violently.)

_What in the name of sweet Horus is she doing…? Ah- the rod! I must hide it!_

With a nervous hand, he quickly managed to invert the golden object down the back of his pants, hiding it to the world least someone would have seen it, or Serenity may have felt it's horned top.

The wind slowly died, a gentle breeze washed lightly over him as he tried his best not to shiver, and instead lightly rubbed the frightened girl's back with his left hand. However this did not seem to reassure her much, so he quickly stopped.

"It's okay, Kaiba's arrived! That's…. there's a helicopter landing, and…here he comes, he's getting out now! We're saved!" Marik commentated, watching the dark-haired CEO stepping out of the vehicle proudly, briefcase still dangling from his grip. His eyes widened marginally when he saw our villain, and the Pharaoh, who was trying to get out behind him peered below his raised arm holding the helicopter's door open.

"Namu??!"

"Ah…um, Yugi…" Our villain glanced quickly down over what little he could see of Serenity, wished himself elsewhere and finally, with face full of unease, lifted his head to glance into the questioning stares of the two new arrivals. What a compromising situation to be caught in!

"What's going on? Where's this Marik guy so that we can end this once and for all?" demanded Kaiba, brandishing the suitcase at the two. The blind girl tightened her grip around his waist, almost pushing Marik's heart out through his mouth.

"Aren't you going to ask us how we managed to escape, then?" our villain asked with a very false, forced grin, attempting to prise the frightened blind girl from his chest and hide his increasing unease at the same time.

"Yes! Where are the others?" asked the Pharaoh, finally pushing past Kaiba, and sprinting to the centre of the paved path leading down to the docks. Urgency and worry spread out across his face like a double blanket, and had he not have been so uncomfortable, our villain would have danced with happiness at the sight.

_Wouldn't you like to know, Pharaoh! Well, you'll have to find that out by yourself! Hahahahahhh….._

"Um..."

"Yugi…? Is that you? You have to go and find my brother! He's still trapped!" Serenity yelped, burying her face in the front of Marik's jacket so that her voice came out all muffled and high-pitched. If it was at all possible, it seemed her grip could only have tightened, constricting our villain and causing nausea to rise into his chest.

_If only Kaiba and the Pharaoh were not here, then she would pay for her ignorance! Fool! Nobody hugs Marik Ishtar like that…! Not even Bakura…no, he deserves everything that he gets from this moment on…_

"Your brother…! Joey? Is he safe? Where is everyone?"

"I…I came from somewhere down this dock… Tristan, Tea and Joey helped me to escape…! I…I wouldn't have gotten anywhere if it wasn't for Namu here, though…"

"They moved them, after we escaped, apparently," Marik added boldly, hoping his expression did not betray his emotions. He did not like where he was right now, and was doing his best to think of a way out of it…even though he'd have to call the mindslaves that he'd selected to duel for him down to the docks now. And that would require him to use the rod, which he couldn't do while the new arrivals were around. He needed a distraction…

"So they're not in the same place? Can you tell me also whether there was a little boy in the place you left?" asked Kaiba darkly, scowling heavily (perhaps a sign of worry?) at them. The auburn-haired girl lifted her head slightly.

"..A little boy…? No…not that I remember…"

_Of course not, you fools! You think I'd leave every one of my hostages in the same place…? Ha! You underestimate me, Seto Kaiba…_

"…Okay…follow me, Yugi. We'll have to search all of these warehouses, under every roof… until we find Mokuba!"

"Kaiba! Don't be silly; this is more than likely a trap! We must work together until we find them- and least I remind you almost all of my friends are missing?" the Pharaoh frowned, exasperated when the CEO strode briskly past him and our villain, complete with frightened girl attached.

"Um…what about us?" asked Marik innocently, again rubbing Serenity's back in some last-ditch attempt to prise her away from him and restore his dignity.

"Do whatever you want, dweebs," Kaiba grumbled predicatively and our villain watched his retreating back as he strode briskly and formally down the dock.

"Kaiba! Come back!" The Pharaoh was caught between two minds as to who to stay with, but finally began to follow the dark-haired CEO at a run.

"We'll…um, go get help," Marik suggested faintly, using his left arm to herd the long-haired girl in the opposite direction. It appeared nobody was listening any more. Perfect.

"H…have they gone to rescue my brother…?"

"Yes, Serenity… I'm sure he'll be just fine…"

_I can't believe I'm actually supposed to say this! I mean- what's she going to think when she hears her precious brother's duelling on MY side..?_

"So…where are we going?"

Marik continued up the dock, heading past all the warehouses and back to the main road. Perhaps there he'd find a way to get rid of her.

It wasn't that he needed no more hostages and mind slaves, but she wouldn't survive two minutes on her own on a highway, would she…? No. She'd escaped at ridiculous odds once, it seemed he'd have to confine her on her own if this plan was to work smoothly. He could see the bristly trees and shrubs pooling around the road now, either side and the odd car whizzing past in the gap in between. The noises from the traffic grew closer, yet still he could not think of anything to say.

"We'll… I dunno…get help…" He finally decided on, distracted by her unnaturally strong grip on his clothing. Even if it were Bakura pulling out of him, Marik was sure he wouldn't enjoy it one bit. But if it happened to be the scheming demon, _without_ his clothes, then maybe…

"You know, the doctor says I can take off my bandages soon…" Serenity confided, glancing up although she was hardly looking at him. He still tried to hurry her along, and at the same time extracted the millennium rod once again, without the fear of anyone seeing him this time. With it's cold metals pressing into his palm, he began to call his newest mind-slaves into position…. They were almost at the roadside now, it was about fifteen metres away…

"Ah… that's great," he responded to her statement, with not much feeling.

_Now, my slaves, you must meet the Pharaoh and Seto Kaiba by the side of warehouse seven… understood…? You know which of you will arrive first… and who will see to it that Bakura's here to see it all too…_

"Yeah… that's the reason I came down here. The first thing I want to see when I open my eyes is my big brother duelling!" continued Serenity.

"That's great…"

_Then, someone must come up here and meet me with this insufferable fool! Abduct her again and confine her in some bottomless pit, you hear me…!?_

"But then… I… After this whole thing with Marik, I feel I need my sight now more than ever if I'm to be of any help to Joey and all the rest of Yugi's friends…"

Marik was about to respond blandly again when he realised what the girl was trying to say. He lowered the rod from where it had been resting across his chest, and stared at her. He was so confused he almost didn't hear her next question.

"N…Namu..? Will you help me remove my bandages and… see again…?"

_Will I do what now…? Ra, what is going on? I don't want her seeing me, that could be dangerous! Especially with me holding the rod..! Ah… I must do something…!_

"I…Argh! What's that..?" He yelped falsely as they neared the cover of a bush near the road, tearing as hard as he could away from her grip at the same time. She leapt in fright and let him go, so forcefully he ended up accidentally losing his balance and falling snugly into the prickly embrace of one of the bushes, which forced him to suppress his displeasure at the wrong end of the thorns.

Marik Ishtar had had enough.

He got to his feet as quickly as he could, sullenly staring down the cowering girl before him, glancing around her(_as if that's going to help…while she's blind…_) nervously and brushed off some of the rogue thorns protruding from his clothes. The bite of their sharp edges tore into his bronze flesh and he had to take a deep breath to stop himself from becoming too angered. Already visions of a blade, sunk deep, came spurting through his mind. Pain… the white-hot slice of metal, through frothing crimson…

"I am Marik." he snarled, allowing his voice to drop low and dangerous like Bakura's. In fact, he quite fancied himself to be doing quite a decent impersonation of him right now, although he were a little too furious to stop to admire himself in the current moment. "I am Marik Ishtar, and you won't be going anywhere, little girl!"

"What did you do with Namu?" she gasped, fear weighing down her voice and intoxicating it. Our villain could actually physically see her shivering, paralysed with fear. And had no remorse.

"Oh…. _he's_ gone… and I suggest you start running, before I do the same to you!"

"Namu!"

_I am him, fool!_

Dark cloaked figures began to melt out of nowhere…the very darkness dwelling in the cracks of the warehouses seemed to give them being, nearly. And she couldn't see them.

It seemed she could sense something, though, and that made her back slowly towards the road. Marik slid closer to the bush that he'd just landed on, and crossed the millennium rod over his chest once again…watching…

_Come on, she's escaped once before… don't disappoint me this time…_

He could sense something taking place before it finally did; and he almost laughed in frustration, when a red sports car skidded to a halt beside her. The screech of tyres whined in Marik's ears, and as he peered out through the green leafy branches of the bush, a man opened the door of the car.

"Are you all right?"

"Who's there?"

With a further drop of his stomach, and casting a sideways glance towards the mind slaves now as stumped as he was, he realised he recognised this unlikely do-gooder.

"What's wrong? …Oh, you can't see?"

"No,"

"Come with me, those guys don't look too kind. I'll introduce myself on the way down. Got any friends you can call?"

"..No… they were kidnapped…! My brother Joey's still in there…!"

"Joey………?"

Raven dark hair, sharp features and if he were a little closer, Marik was sure he would see the glimmering emerald eyes too.

Another of Yugi's friends.

_Seriously, what are the odds of that actually happening? I mean…_

"You know my brother?"

"I might…"

"He's one of Yugi's friends…"

There was a rev of the engine, and from his front-row seat half-hidden by scrub, our exasperated villain watched the shop keeper that Bakura and he had left earlier leap out and sweep the girl up in his arms.

"If you're one of Yugi's friends, then why didn't you say before? ..Right this way…"

"But I- they're back ther-"

"Never fear… Duke Devlin's here…"

"Um…"

Seems like someone had just made Marik's job a whole lot easier. As soon as he could smell the soot of the car's exhaust, and knew it had sped off up the highway, off into the sun, he straightened and relaxed greatfully.

The hunters looked to their master, leaning into the thorn bush thoughtfully and he rewarded them with a scowl.

"What should we do, master? Should we follow them?"

"No, you fools… I don't want her around anyways. Looks like he'll have more fun with her than I would…"

He began to walk back stiffly, cursing the prickles still caught under his jacket which he'd failed to remove as of yet, all the while searching for his newest mind slaves. Their consciousnesses were eager(_just as they should be_) and when he forced himself into their minds to see what they could, he could see the Pharaoh and Kaiba, approaching wherever it was Joey and Mokuba happened to be hiding. He made Joey look around; it seemed they were crouched behind the back of one of the buildings. Marik couldn't get a clear view of the water, or the wooden pier he'd had the rare hunters build, so they must be near the warehouse he was hiding the rest of the Pharaoh's pathetic friends in. They had no real value in this game, no value but to be used as bargaining chips in the grand scheme of things.

Just like Seto Kaiba.

_If only my fool of a sister hadn't bestowed him with the power of this god card, then he'd be no more a problem to me as that mutt Joey. A pawn. A powerful chip for me to use to my disposal, just like all the other inhabitants of this world!! But I can't use it until I acquire the card…_

He forced Joey to rise to his feet, and traipse slowly out in the path of the approaching teens, almost as if there was nothing wrong. However Marik knew the Pharaoh was smarter than that… surely he'd know without having to be told…?

Through Joey's ears, he heard the shouts.

"Joey…? It is him! Joey! Thank goodness you're-" As soon as the teenager with the tri-coloured hair had crept within three feet of him, he skidded to a halt.

"Joey! What's wrong??" Marik waited, he made the obedient boy's body stay still, the wind playing absent-mindedly through his rough golden hair, tossing it like sprightly waves of the ocean waving to ship-bearers.

Finally, when he saw Seto Kaiba come to a stop beside him, did he allow the wind-swept teen to raise his head.

"Seriously, Yugi! This is probably a trap or something…" The CEO felt the need to comment. Marik stared at Kaiba, stared through empty golden eyes that didn't belong to him and chuckled from somewhere down the dock.

"Joey isn't here," he forced the boy to say, the voice borrowed crudely too, a mask that buried his identity protectively beneath itself, a reassuring feeling Marik had only felt when he was a kid…a kid being hugged and cuddled…when he could still crawl into a sibling's lap for comfort after a nightmare…

A horrible realisation fell across the ancient king like a wet cloak… our villain could almost see it, descending from the heavens like a gift to him.

"No… don't tell me Marik's gotten to you already! Joey, it's me! Snap out of it!!" The pharaoh burst out desperately, the worry and fear evident in his voice. Our villain could have jumped in joy.

"It's no use, Pharaoh. Joey's gone away. Now it's only Marik…"

"You're a coward! Why don't you face me already like a man!" he retorted predictably, allowing Marik time to analyse that comment.

_Ha! You say this to me, from the borrowed body of a simple vessel, your voice being that of your host's… your actions being committed by your host, form borrowed for your own use. You call me coward. You taunt me from your millennium prison, from the depths of another's mind, that I will not use my true body and face you._

_While I… I am also hidden… using the power of a millennium item to project my thoughts, views and actions through another…_

_I'd say that makes us pretty much even, right now, doesn't it…? Hahahahh… although I think I'd win that little battle, since you've already unwittingly met me, you've seen my face… yet you don't know it. We can never see your true form, Pharaoh, since it was destroyed over 3000 years ago. My family was forced to wait, wait for you to hide yourself from us…_

_And then… now… I will put that to an end. In the next few hours, the world will have a new Pharaoh! You will be vanquished, once and for all and then we'll see who's a coward!! Then we'll see! Hahahahhahahahahh…..!!!_

"There will be plenty of time for that…"

"You have to search within yourself, Joey! Marik is controlling your mind to force you to fight against me!" The ancient ruler continued to try and convince him. Marik felt the smallest of acknowledges from the true conscience of Joey Wheeler, and quickly stamped on it.

"I don't know what planet you think you're on, Yugi, but on this one people can't control each other's minds! Wheeler; I suggest you stop this nonsense as well! Quite frankly I can't care less whether you still want to be friends with Yugi here but I'd appreciate you moving so I can find my little brother already!" Kaiba raged, beginning to approach the blonde teen threateningly, his dark hair whipping out slightly in the afternoon breeze. Marik refused to move Joey, and mulled over his thoughts for a minute, contemplating the best way of breaking it to him that his brother was in his clutches, now too…

"I am not alone here," he finally chose for the blonde to say, as the tall tournament host came to a halt in front of him.

"Oh, wonderful." he spat in return, words drenched in sarcasm and condescending as usual. "Now move it, monkey boy,"

Marik tightened his grip on the rod, somewhere across the docks, and stood still, letting the same breeze wash over him, too. Then he forced the small boy to get to his feet, and run out to meet his older sibling head on. As soon as he was in sight, time seemed to stand still. Electricity sparkled from everywhere, shimmering, holding up the silence…

There was the slightest frail second of quietness and stillness before it was finally shattered like a window pane.

"Mokuba!!"

"Mokuba's not here either. Surprise! It's Marik again!" he then forced the boy to cry, watching in glee as Kaiba was forced to stop dead two inches away from him.

"What's going on, Mokuba?"

"Oh, no…" the Pharaoh gasped, his dark amethyst eyes swirling with horror. "Kaiba- you can't ignore the fact that Marik has supernatural powers! This is all his work! And now he's got Mokuba too!"

Kaiba, however, had obviously decided the blonde-haired Joey was all to blame for his little sibling's sudden change of heart, and seized a handful of the front of his t-shirt- yanking him almost two feet into the air. Marik really hadn't noticed how tall he was next to everyone else until he'd lifted Joey… he was much, much taller than Marik, that was for certain. He was quite glad it wasn't him, anyways.

As the trademark cold, piercing glare shot icily through the mind-slave's and reflected back onto our villain's, a fist was raised. It was a glare that could freeze hell over, a glare that could stop the heart of an unlucky victim, if administered in just the right way. If he were in Joey's position right now, Marik might have been a bit intimidated… but the great Marik Ishtar does not cower in fear before anyone!

"You tell me what you did to Mokuba before I personally see to it that you never speak again!" the dark CEO spat, face inches from Joey's. Our villain could have almost died from overdosing on the venom that flowed from Seto Kaiba's voice then, a powerful, real threat which didn't really effect our villain, even though he could almost feel the raging heat radiating from him, a boiling tower of terror he knew would be suicide to go up against in a fight.

_Well lucky for me we'll be doing this by my rules, and soon you will be relieved of your god card, and be of no threat to anyone! Now… for the fun part…_

"Tell me!" he threatened, although Marik refused to do anything himself, let alone to let the boiling energy he could feel from within the blonde-haired teen break free. It was almost as if the opposite edge of a magnet had been rubbed up against Joey's conscience, he was having such a powerful reaction subconsciously to the tournament host… but why?

The last thing he wanted was to loose control of a mind-slave and have him fighting pointlessly with one of our villain's selected victims like he could sense happening if he didn't do something.

"No, Kaiba! He's being controlled! ….Marik, why are you doing this? If it's me you want, then come and get me already!" The pharaoh cried in the background, attempting to loosen Kaiba's furious, iron grip on his friend. Marik knew he sensed it too; if this moment did not end very soon, then someone(namely Joey) was going to become seriously injured.

"I want…a duel." he stated, through Joey, still dangling from the CEO's grip.

"A…duel?" he repeated, unsure but still fearsome. He didn't release his hostage immediately.

"Yes, Seto Kaiba. A duel, for your god cards." Marik continued, this time through Mokuba and thoroughly enjoyed the moment that Kaiba realised it was Mokuba speaking, and dropped the captured teen pointedly to turn and stare at his little sibling instead. The empty body of Joey hit the ground with a dry thump, which faded into the background, almost.

"Joey!" worried the ancient spirit, from his host.

"Mokuba!" cried Kaiba, shaking the small dark-haired form with both hands.

"I told you," Marik answered impatiently from the latter, "Mokuba is gone. It's Marik now. So do you accept my challenge, you two?"

"You want to duel me again, Marik? Why don't you face me properly, this time instead of using my friends to speak through?" demanded the spirit of the ancient king, backing away when our villain forced the blonde-haired servant to his feet… forced to sigh in exasperation as he felt the unenthusiastic conscience shrug him off in favour of lying there longer. The rod glowed in anger; no slave of his would be lazy!

_Get up, you fool! You will not disobey me!_

"So do you accept my challenge?"

"Just who are you challenging, here?" demanded Kaiba furiously, now completely unsure of where to address all together.

"Both of you."

"But you can't-"

Marik made the two gather themselves together, and back away from their former friends and family.

"Follow us to the duelling arena and I'll explain what's going to happen," Marik told them, through the blonde slave. He slowly inched the two backwards, towards the strange wooden structure like a receding string he was baiting a kitten with.

_That's right, you two…follow my bait… duel me… and prepare to lose!_

"Wait, Kaiba. I should go."

"No way, Yugi…! That's my brother over there and I want to know what the hell is going on!"

"He's being controlled! And the person controlling him is after me! I don't want you getting hurt because of that… so let me go and duel alone."

"Yugi; you speak as if I need babysitting or something! I can look after myself. It's this Marik guy that needs to be watching his back after doing this to my little brother…"

"But you-"

"Actually," Marik interrupted, slightly annoyed, "I need both of you for this; remember you each have a god card and I intend to win them the both of them at once! So stop squabbling and follow me!"

………………………………......................................................................

"What is this thing?" asked the Pharaoh, as they stood on the creaking wood a few minutes later. Water passed easily beneath it, the whole ocean lapped the side of the pier and the wooden legs of the structure twinkling and shimmering in the full daylight.

"This will be the site of both your demise!" our villain grinned, from across the docks. His voice flowed freely through the younger of his new slaves, and he looked around as to where they were all standing.

Both the Pharaoh and Kaiba stood about a metre or two apart, facing the two mind slaves, creating a huge invisible square around the wooden planks.

_Perfect… everything's in place, now…_

"Okay… if it's a duel you want, then let's get on with it, already." Kaiba stated, sullenly. Marik was glad that they'd both chosen to be wearing their duel discs, as were his two new pawns. They would need them, for what our evil little mastermind happened to be planning…

"Right…. This game will be played by my rules… it will be a double duel, with alternating turns between us(Joey, then Yugi, then Mokuba and finally Kaiba…), and you already know the stakes, don't you? If I win, which will happen the minute one of your life points hit zero-"

Insert marginally surprised gasp from the Pharaoh here…

"…I want the puzzle… if I manage to deplete your life points to zero, Pharaoh, I expect that as part of the deal…"

"What makes you so sure that we'll agree to all this?" the ancient king concluded, glancing quickly from Joey to Mokuba, unsure of where Marik would speak from next.

"Ahh…. The guarantee." Marik, who himself was beginning to approach from his place near the main road, grinned in satisfaction… and marvelling at his own daring.

"Look above your head. There lies an anchor. If you don't comply……or, if the timer that's attached to it reaches zero… then it will fall."

The pharaoh's eyes widened in horror as he glanced upwards, panic swirling in his expression. Even Kaiba, when he glanced up, was taken aback slightly.

"Is…is there someone up there?"

"Yes… so you'd better do as I say and begin this duel…we have approximately thirty minutes… before the anchor will fall…taking that person to the bottom of the ocean with it..."

"As head of the battle city tournament I cannot let this duel continue!" Kaiba interjected, unable to take his eyes from the figure dangling limply from the anchor, it's body lifeless and unconscious. "This is just…sick!"

"I thought you wanted to save your precious brother..?" taunted our murderously evil little villain, this time making the subject of the previous sentence convey his message.

"Mokuba!"

"Well then- you must let it continue! Draw your first cards, already!"

"Wait…! Marik…! First answer me this; who is that, up there tied to the anchor…?" asked Marik's true target, his deep usually comforting voice plagued with the worry and stress of seeing any of his friends get hurt. That was something our villain, whose whole body suddenly came over weak with the excitement, would never have. Because he would be the one doing the hurting.

He had to stop abruptly and gaze up at the swirling blue of the relentless sky as it seeped into the horizon. To examine the soft white clouds sifting down it's face, the small prickle of light that was the sun, starting to slip itself towards the water's surface.

And thank Ra that he was in charge.

The whole excitement and thrill that had overtaken him raked his body… he felt like laughing, laughing in the face of his enemies and all who stood against him.

_Nobody can stop me! Nobody! I'm unstoppable! Hahahahhh…. And now everything is in place… you shall get your come-uppance, Pharaoh, I will rule this world…! And Seto Kaiba… I will soon possess your god card too…! As for the spirit… the spirit of the ring…he'll soon see just who's in charge here… first-hand…_

The curve of the grin that now covered his face reflected through his voice, even as it was projected through the blonde teenager's.

"The person tied to the anchor…? Oh, that's…Bakura! Hahahahahaaa!!"

**A/n: Bakura!! Hahah, he deserves it though, doesn't he? :D And anyone notice I used the letters CEO far too much here...?^^ What else is Kaiba? Hmmm.... although I'm not happy with some of this chapter as I seem to be, lately with all of them, unfortunately your authoress has become such a procrastinator she can't go back and fix it until perhaps this story is finished...! Which won't be any time soon, I choose to remind you. ^____^ ****Aaaaahnd, Bakura didn't speak once in this chapter!! Hahaha, I've given your screen time- ahem- I mean, um... well you know what I mean... I've given it all to Marik for your horrible behaviour last chapter!!! Hahahaha!!! ----I've been watching far too many yugioh abridged episodes lately...^^;**

**Review please! I think I'll be highering the review number that I ask for whenever the finals do eventually begin, since I got eight last chapter and seven the one before that. XD But we still have a duel to get out the way before that, and that'll last...well it might last two chapters. So I hope you enjoyed the bonus chapter I gave you last time, because it'll be a while before you'll see any action between them two again!!! X3 (Eeeeeep! So can't wait for chapter 20 though!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Look out for it!!! I'm suuuper excited!! :P)**

**So...review please? I've already started chapter 14, and I need to post it soon to make up for the untimely hiatus I went on. :D (Oh, and I should hit 100 reviews sometime on this chapter if I get six like I need! Yay! Thank you so much for that, anyone who's contributed!! :3 Anyone reading this, I encourage to try to snag it; I was going to have like, some sort of reward to give to do with a choice of what direction the story will take, later on... but unfortunately we haven't hit the plotpoint that it revolves around yet...^^; so... Um, I'll think of something, if someone does that, anyways....*scratches chin thoughtfully*)**

**Until next time! ...Which I hope will be soon!!**


	15. Chpt 14 Revenge of two halves

**A/n: Yes! Finally! I am back!! 3 Urgh, want to know what kept these two chapters from being uploaded? ...I GOT A TROJAN. I know I actually quickly mailed most of the regular reviewers to tell them this, but I might have missed some people, and the lovely new reviewers I got last chapter may not have been informed either. :P So yeah. I was hit with a virus. And it deleted all of this chapter, as well as the next. In fact, I lost everything on my computer, including the new story I had to put up that I mentioned a while back, Turbulance. T__T But I had to get my lappytop repaired, and restart Blackheart's 14th and 15th. Because although I felt like giving up, if I did the followers of this would maul me to death. x_x**

**Seiri has worked tirelessly on it now, to bring you this; chapter 14!! ^^; I've changed some of it, since I can't really remember what happened much from before, but now I'm trying less to focus on the duel, and more on the other things happening, since I hate this duel so much right now for making me write it twice.. :D So sorry if it's a little hard to follow. D: I just want it done right now, after like a month of waiting. T__T I'm sure you must have some idea what it feels like to have to re-write two whole chapters! ...Or at least.. can imagine it? **

**I'm so glad I finished this before my birthday. But unfortunately chapter 15 will be posted after I come back, because I'm going away camping with my boyfriend this weekend and after.. so it might be next sunday? XD Anyways, for now please enjoy this one! And sorry it was such a long wait! ;3 Blame the stupid virus I got!!**

**Ps my birthday's on monday. DX I'mma be an adult, and I don't want to be one!! *cries* I want to go back to being an underage child!! DX**

**Okay, enough of my pointlessnessXD. Here is the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own anything in here, except perhaps my imagination. XD Perhaps.**

**Chapter 14: Revenge of two halves**

"Bakura!" The swirling crimson in the ancient king's eyes was hot, a fear so real that Marik could feel it from across the dock. Fear for a friend's safety, something he would never feel himself. For he would be the one to commit such acts…

Our villain couldn't have felt it in his heart, if he had of tried. For anyone. Let alone the traitorous white-haired demon dangling helplessly against the chains, against the bindings constricting him to the gleaming metal anchor. He grinned to himself, satisfied, crossing the rod across his chest once again.

_That's right, you fool… Nobody escapes the wrath of Marik Ishtar! Wrong me and you will pay! Not even Bakura- the spirit of the ring shall escape unpunished!! Hahaha… He especially, must learn his place around here… instead of assuming he can do what he pleases!_

…_Yes…. Once he learns that he is my play-thing… and nothing more… a play-thing with no opinion…_

Marik stroked the horned top of the millennium rod, thoughtfully. "He's unconscious- he can't hear you. So- I suggest we start this duel, after all, we only have 30 minutes before that anchor will fall, and the timer's already started! That is- if you ever want Bakura to wake up again!" Our scheming little villain threatened, through the blonde teen.

"Marik- why are you doing this? Why are you hurting so many people, when it's really me you want?"

Marik frowned, and removed the rod from across his chest.

"Do you want to save your friend or not?"

"Can't you-"

"Yugi- shut up and duel, already! I'm not in the mood for standing around for pleasantries like this! Quite frankly, I don't care in the slightest about your friends, but Mokuba and I have a tournament to run!" the dark-haired CEO grumbled, glancing upwards momentarily at the unconscious white-haired teen.

In his unconscious state, the wind played gently though the silvery strands, his face strangely beautiful and peaceful.

"Kaiba- may I remind you, that this madman has your brother under his control?" The pharaoh retorted, also glancing up at the figure, dangling pathetically.

Marik sighed from across the docks, exasperated. He let the gentle breeze play across his face for a second, peering at the duel arena from his hiding place, and let them squabble.

_It won't be long now, Bakura… it won't be long before I have achieved my destiny and am the new ruler of this world… you shall bear witness to my victory… and you shall be there, by my side… Yes, together, you and I…._

There was a pause. Marik just couldn't bring himself to finish that sentence.

How curious.

It sounded so strange- _Together… you… and I…_

Marik had always been such a solitary figure, lying dormant in the shadows… alone…

Now… was this some sort of a cry for company? No… he was only another minion, not anything especially worthy of his affections. Perhaps a startlingly beautiful one, which Marik was certainly very happy to look at… but…

He shivered, which was nothing to do with the weather, and suddenly turned back to the path.

_No… Marik Ishtar needs no-one…_

He began to head towards the duel arena himself, quiet steps echoing in the silence. Perhaps if 'Namu' were to show up, it would speed up the duel somewhat. Perhaps then he could achieve his destiny before sundown…

"I don't care what fairytales you want to believe, Yugi, but I don't have time for this! Marik! Wherever you are- let's start this duel already!" Kaiba complained, brandishing the machine attached to his outstretched arm. That was the best suggestion Marik had heard all day.

"Yes… Let's begin, before your friend is eternally unconscious, on the bottom of the ocean!" he concluded, through Joey and activated the disc on his arm. He could feel the spark of life ignite it as it came alive, even through the medium of the blonde teen's mind. Truthfully, it excited him. Like the shuddering vibration of an engine. But currently his motorbike was still being repaired from the crash, so it had been weeks since he'd felt that sort of motion, and this reminded him that he needed to make sure it was repaired before the finals started, in the next two days.

"All right, be prepared to hand over your god cards!" he reminded, through the younger of the mind-slaves as the second dual disk activated.

The pharaoh was hesitant at first, thoughtfully staring up at the limp body of Bakura hanging from the anchor, unwilling to endanger him any further. But there was no way he'd be able to save the demon in disguise without fighting, a decision he must have come to on his own, as he finally pressed the activation switch on the disc attached to his forearm.

"Fine, Marik! You want to duel me so badly? Do you promise to let my friends go, if I win?"

Marik scoffed, a little too loud, and leapt sideways further down the path, least he be seen if someone had turned around. After all, he had found himself only metres away from the duelling field.

_What will they do, when Namu shows up? How will they contain him? Hahahah…._

"If you win, you two go free. If I win, I expect the god cards and the boundless energies of the Pharaoh! Hahah…"

"Answer the question!"

"We'll see… Have you forgotten that the timer attached to that anchor started ages ago? If you want any hope for your little scrawny British associate up there, I suggest you draw your first cards!" He chose to reply, making the blond mind slave pick the first five cards from his deck, and through two golden eyes that were not his, began to inspect his draw-work.

"Fine, Marik! Joey- remember our friendship! Nothing Marik can do or say can change that!" The spirit king reminded, as he finally obeyed our villain's words and drew his first five cards.

Our villain, while still in the mind of the older mind slave, felt the slightest recognition from him, like a slight ripple in a puddle, that lapped against the bottom of his shoe.

_You shall not obey me, Joey Wheeler! You will not even acknowledge the people you used to call friends, you hear me?! You are mine now, mine to do what I will with! You have no thoughts of your own! And you will go out there and win me that puzzle, if it's the last thing you do!_

Marik stopped in the course of venting his frustration.

What was he waiting for? Comfort? Reassurance? Or some sort of response?

There was no response to be given, Marik was forced to remind himself, since he was taking up any part of his mind that the blond would use to reply. Full control was something that did not come easy.

_Why do you react to him, but not to me?_ he wondered briefly, straightening behind the bush. _Is it this friendship thing? Surely affection can't run that deep…_

He shook his head, slightly angered by the fact that he was still on that trail of thought and ordered the other slave to draw his first hand too. He was glad of the ease at which this could be done, fearing for a second that either of them would attempt to rebel.

"All right! You understand how this duel works, don't you? Each of us has 4000 life points, and are looking out for ourselves. However, if you two want to have any hope of walking out of here safe, then I suggest you team up! Now… as for the attacks… you can attack anyone, including your partner directly… although that'd just make my job a lot easier if you did.

Our turns are alternating, with someone from this side, and then someone from yours, before back to mine. Understand?"

"I'm very sorry for you, Marik, if you think that I'll be teaming up with Yugi over there. I don't know about you, but I'm capable of beating you into next week without the help of anyone!" Kaiba pointed out angrily, casting a dark glance over at the teen the other side of the wooden field.

"Kaiba- don't be silly! I need your help, just as much as you need mine! You can't hope to rescue your brother alone! You don't know what Marik is capable of!" the Pharaoh responded quickly.

"Well you obviously don't know what I'm capable of, either then. Remember- who was it that beat those last two hunters, weeks ago when you had that delusion that your friends had been kidnapped when they were perfectly fine?"

"I remember… but…"

Marik sighed. He'd get nothing done with the arguments that his arch-nemesis and the cold CEO could start over something as simple as how they'd go about losing. He glanced up at the anchor, through Joey's honey-golden eyes. Bakura was still unconscious, his body secure behind the chains that bound him.

_Don't worry, Bakura… I know that you'll understand why you're there, soon enough… but for now…_

"Okay! While you're squabbling in the corner there, I'll begin!" Marik announced, from Joey's body. He drew a sixth card, and slid it immediately into the disc on his arm.

"To start, I'll play Ookazi! And you'd better watch out, Pharaoh- because the flames are heading straight for you! Hahah…" As the card activated, and rose as a two-foot hologram of the green spell, the ancient spirit had barely looked up when he was surrounded by angry red flames which quickly enveloped him.

The ring of depleting life points echoed across the water, sloshing lazily around the wooden arena.

Marik smiled from his place somewhere nearby.

"Now… with my first card, I've already managed to deplete your life points by eight hundred!" he scoffed. "Do you give up? Or should I continue?"As soon as the king had recovered from the attack, he glared fiercely through the crimson amethyst of his host's eyes.

"Joey! I know you're in there!" he called suddenly, "And don't worry! I want you to know I'm going to find some way of setting you free!"

Marik laughed from nearby, and almost forgot he was close enough to be heard by the group.

"I told you, Joey is long-gone. And if you want to walk out of here intact, you'll have to defeat me; or more importantly, your friend!" he laughed, letting all of his confidence flow through those words as they fell through the blonde's lips, not his own. Confidence in his own judgement, that this plan would indeed work.

The pharaoh's eyes momentarily flicked upwards to the figure dangling unconscious from the anchor, perhaps concerned for his safety. After all, it was certain that at least ten minutes had already been wasted by the pharaoh stalling. Marik pushed the detail of what exactly would become of Bakura if they didn't hurry up from his mind, and continued with the move.

"Okay… well I think you know what you've gotten yourself into now, so I'll end my move with two facedowns." he concluded, refusing to allow his (Or more importantly, Joey's) eyes to travel back up to the snow white head of Bakura, as the wind whipped his lengthy hair out to one side like a silvery soft flag.

(Duel overview; Joey- 4000lp, 2 facedowns. Yugi- _hasn't had turn yet, 3200lp _Mokuba- _hasn't had turn yet _Kaiba-_hasn't had turn yet )_

"Fine! It's my turn!" the spirit pharaoh straightened, and drew another card stiffly. "Marik; I assure you, I will free my friends! And you'll never win this battle!"

_That's what you think! Hahah… we'll just see… you'll all see…._

"I summon Gazelle, king of mythical beasts in attack mode! (1500atk)" There was a burst of rainbow-like hologram particles, and from the centre of the fountain rose a fawney-brown lion-like creature with a curved horn set in the centre of it's forehead. It flexed a claw threateningly at Marik, though Joey's eyes.

"Excellent. But remember you can't attack me with that yet, since it's your first turn!" our villain pointed out unhelpfully, this time from the medium of Mokuba Kaiba.

"Yes, I know that," came the reply, "so I'll play a face-down card… and that ends my turn."

( Duel overview; Joey- 4000lp, 2 facedowns. Yugi- Gazelle king of mythical beasts(1500atk)_, _3200lpMokuba- _hasn't had turn yet _Kaiba-_hasn't had turn yet )_

The amethyst was cold, as Marik stared into the eyes of the man who had ruined generations of his family's lives, let alone his own.

_You will regret locking us up like that, Pharaoh… you'll regret the secrets that have been forced from generation to generation, not even secure in the knowledge that we had the key to your precious power safe within the walls of our minds. No, you had to have us tortured, marked, scarred for the rest of our existence in those pitiful dark halls… sliced open… until your selfish cause was written anew in our own blood!_

…_Well no more… When I become king, I'll lead the world to freedom! Freedom from all your slavery! You hear me, Pharaoh?_

"All right," Marik sighed aloud, as well as from the younger of his slaves. "It's my turn!" He made the small boy draw from the deck, and momentarily paused to admire just how little he happened to be. The disc alone took up almost his whole arm.

"And I'll first play Marauding captain, in attack mode! (1200atk)" The humanoid figure rose up in front of him, casting a huge shadow which pooled around the little boy. "And his ability allows me to special summon another level four or lower monster, so I'll summon Mataza the zapper, also in attack mode(1300atk)!" Marik commanded, and the second humanoid figure rose, of a man in armour. "As you've already pointed out, I can't attack since it's my first turn, so I'll just lay a facedown, and add Banner of courage to the field!" As our villain spoke, he made Mokuba insert a spell, and from somewhere near, the long shadow of a flag appeared, flapping in a nonexistent breeze, in the opposite direction to the real air current.

"This gives my monsters a 200 attack point bonus, in battle phases. So that includes yours, as well!"

_Yes… this'll all be over in a matter of minutes…_

(Duel overview; Joey- 4000lp, 2 facedowns. Yugi- Gazelle king of mythical beasts(1500atk)_, _3200lp Mokuba- Marauding captain (1200atk) Mataza the zapper (1300atk), spells; banner of courage. One facedown. Kaiba-_hasn't had turn yet )_

"Are you done?" huffed the tournament host, not even pausing for an answer before drawing his sixth card himself. He let out a harsh bark of laughter a second after this, and placed a monster on the field.

"Looks like you're lucky, Marik." He said, as the shadow of an armoured humanoid creature began to rise.

"Oh yeah? And why's that?"

"Because I summon Lord of dragons! (Atk 1200)""I'm so scared…" our villain couldn't help but answer sarcastically, still also watching over the battle field from further up the path. He could see both the close-up of the monsters through his mind-slaves, and also from a distance, where it was impossible to see any facial expressions or body language.

"Oh really?" The reply was just as dry and sarcastic as he could have hoped for. "And I haven't even begun yet! Because I add flute of summoning dragon to him, which allows me to play the two Blue-eyes white dragons I had in my hand onto the field! Hahahah… it was a mistake to mess with me, Marik!"

Our villain stared upwards along with everyone else, as the lord of dragons took the horn and blew. Even from his little hideout metres away, our villain could still hear it's sweet call. There was a searing burst of light, which he was forced to shield his eyes from, and when it had become bearable, our villain watched in slight horror as two enormous white dragons escaped from it's prison, with eyes as cold and icy as their master's. Scales as white as Bakura's hair coated their bodies, with the slightest, gentlest hint of blue, as if the water below was clinging protectively to them, sparkling in the crystalline rays.

The two creatures twined around their master, one thrashing it's tail threateningly while the other one displayed a full jaw of razor-sharp teeth and roared a distinctive call.

Although they were only holograms, and even though Marik really had a back row seat, he was still rather glad they were, just holograms after all.

"You think just because you summoned two of your strongest monsters in one turn, that you'll save your little brother?" he chided from nearby, deciding to sit down on the scraggly grass attempting to find root on the side of the docks. He caressed one of the points of the millennium rod with a finger, thoughtfully, as he crossed his legs.

_Impressive… but still, at the same time, predictable…_

Kaiba grinned an icy grin, one void of any warmth or humanity. It was the coldest gesture Marik had ever seen a human being make.

"Hahahah… that's right, wherever you are, I hope you're scared! Because when you mess with my family, you'll pay dearly! Hahahah…!"

Looking through Joey's eyes, our villain frowned thoughtfully as he pondered his next move. He'd been expecting something like that from the CEO for his first move, but was a little unnerved that it had actually happened. He could get into trouble fast, if he wasn't careful with those dragons.

"Are you done?"

"Don't rush me! …I'll just add a facedown, and let you go, if you're so eager to lose!" The dark haired tournament host was very confident in the presence of his two enormous dragons, and Marik almost laughed from the thought of being able to take them away from him.

(Duel overview; Joey- 4000lp, 2 facedowns. Yugi- Gazelle king of mythical beasts(1500atk)_, _3200lp Mokuba- Marauding captain (1200atk) Mataza the zapper (1300atk), spells; banner of courage. One facedown. Kaiba- _monsters_; 2 Blue-eyes white dragons(3000atk each) lord of dragons(1200atk) _spell/trap_; _one_ facedown . _)_

_Which of course, those dragons won't be staying on the field much longer if I can help it…._

"Right! It's my move!" Just as Marik eagerly had instructed Joey to draw, something distracted him. Out of the corner of his trained eye, he could see the raw gleam of metal in the sunlight; a car was turning into the docks. And it just happened to be red.

_So they think they can mess up my plans, huh?_

As quickly as he could, Marik leapt to his feet and forced the rod down his trousers again in one motion, and began to run towards the duel arena, only pausing long enough to make sure that the cold metal of the rod was touching his tanned skin-which ensured he still exercised full control over both mind-slaves, while appearing inconspicuous.

He braced himself…

"Guys! Hey guys!" Both the Pharaoh and Kaiba looked up, and the pharaoh's eyes widened in surprise at the blond bundle of energy approaching them.

"Namu?!"

"Yes… I… I escaped… but I don't know how long it'll be before I….- what's going on?" Marik skidded to a pretend halt, faking being out of breath, and his pale eyes travelled past the two standing… past the two enormous dragons… to the anchor. Just a little too obviously in his opinion, but it was for the added effect all the same.

"Bakura!!!"

Sprinting his way towards them, the Pharaoh leapt aside.

"No…! Namu, stay back! He's …he'll be all right!"

"He doesn't look okay to me! 'Kura! 'Kura! Can't you hear me?" our villain, if he'd still been watching this spectacle from somewhere near, would have had to laugh hysterically at how high and ridiculously panicky he'd succeeded in making himself sound, but here it was all he could do to keep the façade up. It was actually convincing to the point of being rather embarrassing, so he was rather glad that even Odeon was not around to hear it.

"No! He's unconscious! Namu- stop and I'll try to explain what's going on." the ancient king tried to explain, holding both hands out as if he expected Marik to become a danger to him, or something. Our villain, meanwhile, decided to up his game a little.

"What's this? One of the prisoners escaped?" He mused, from within Joey. "How fortunate for you- you'll get to see the demise of your friend up there on the anchor! Hahahah!"

Marik turned sharply then, to look into the blank eyes of his blond mind-slave, look into the depths of his own soul reflected back at him, the fake terror he emanated apparently very persuasive.

"J…Joey? What's going on, Joey? Why is Bakura tied to that anchor?" he could feel his voice crumble slightly, which had more to do with keeping up his ridiculously high and panicky tone, but also conveniently seemed to everyone assembled as if he were on the verge of bursting into tears.

"Listen, that's not Joey… he's under the control of a man named Marik!" our villain, donned in his sugar-coated disguise, turned desperate eyes on the teenager with the tri-coloured hair.

"Marik…?"

"Yes… and that's the same person who tied Bakura to that anchor!" he tried to reassure him, momentarily laying a hand against Marik's shoulder.

_Don't you touch me…_

He shirked free, and backed up.

"Bakura! Wake up! You've got to wake up! It's me… Namu!"

"Look, can't you just get out the way, whoever you are? I have a duel to win!" interjected Kaiba from the side, pointedly.

_Whoever I am…? You'll regret those words, Seto Kaiba… I'll make sure you do…_

"But…"

"Listen- we're duelling against this Marik, but if we don't finish the duel in about thirty minutes, he's going to drop that anchor into the sea, with Bakura tied to it! So it'd be much better for you to wait over there, until we've finished…"

"Thirty minutes?!"

"Actually," Marik felt the need to add, from Joey once again, "There's at least ten of that already used up! So if you ever want your friend to wake up again, then I suggest you shut up and duel already!"

Our villain crept to the side of the wooden platform, the other side of the Pharaoh, so that he was almost directly under the anchor.

"I'm staying right here..! With Bakura!"

"Fine," he answered himself from Joey, feeling a little foolish to say the least. He looked up, wondering what was keeping the red sports car from arriving. Had it got lost, or had the hunters got them?

"All right. Before that, I believe it was my turn?" he continued, from the blonde teen.

"…Yes… well I think I'll go ahead and play the spell card, Hinotama!" There was a flash from somewhere over everyone, swirling in the frothing clouds above… and then a meteor came tumbling from the heavens, ricocheting down towards Marik's ancient rival.

Our villain himself leapt backwards out the way a little too dramatically, (almost falling off the side into the water I might add) as the huge flaming ball of rock collided with it's target, amongst a large amount of turbulence and light.

"Yugi!" He yelled, in a bid to seem even less conspicuous.

_Really… This pretending to be someone else is a pain… I can't wait to reveal that it is really I, Marik Ishtar, that shall rise again as Pharaoh!_

Truthfully, it was making him slightly dizzy to keep part of his mind individually on the mind-slaves, and another on pretending to be Namu. Straightening up, he could already hear the gentle purr of an engine. He was sure it was, since his ear was trained to be in tune to vehicles. Marik was certain he'd know the rev of his own motorbike from any other machine out there.

"Who's that, now?" he wondered, through Joey. As soon as the smoke from the hologram meteor had cleared, and the life point counter had slid down another five-hundred points, everyone's focus shifted to the new arrivals.

"Yugi! Kaiba! Joey! What on earth is going on here?" cried a voice.

"Duke?"

"What are you doing here?"The snap of the door closing… the crunch of the tyres… Marik suddenly realised he missed being on the road very much. He glanced sideways at Bakura, who merely seemed as if he were sleeping. His face looked peaceful… innocent… almost as it did the first time he laid eyes on him. Something inside Marik- something primitive, was slightly remorseful for doing this to him now that he seemed so beautiful and helpless.

_But then… I must not forget the humiliation he is capable of! A dog who does not know it's place is at it's master's feet, is a dangerous creature indeed… he will pay for that at least…_

"We have to duel, to try and save everyone! That's what this whole thing is about! Please- don't interfere! I don't want any more harm to come to anyone!" Suddenly Marik realised with a jolt that he'd managed to completely zone out to what was going on, and mentally worried for his ability to keep a strong hold over both mind slaves at once, especially after Bakura woke up, which could be any minute now.

"Well we can't just sit here and watch people get hurt like this! It's crazy!" cried the other male voice, who must have been Duke.

"What are we going to do?" our villain certainly recognised that one, though. The same girl who'd clung onto him as if he were a stuffed teddy. The same blind girl who'd managed to almost ruin his perfect entrance… twice now.

"See if you can find the others," suggested the Pharaoh, "And at least make sure we're the only ones in danger here…"

"What about Bakura?" Marik asked, innocently, trying his best to put on an act. "Why can't someone stop this and save him? He's going to drown if that anchor falls!"

"We can't, Namu! Don't worry… I won't let anything happen to him… but… you must be patient! I promise no harm will come to anyone here, as long as I can help it! What we must do is try to get through to Joey, and Mokuba… and only Kaiba and I are capable of that!"

Marik fell to his knees at the side of the dock, as a mark of despair, but almost consciously yelped out in pain. He wasn't really expecting it to hurt so much.

"It…it's okay, Kura! I'm not going anywhere!" he shouted up to the unconscious figure, at this point feeling extremely idiotic.

_This is really low for me… Ra, I'll be so glad when it's all over… and I rule this world…_

"Right…! We'll go and try to find Tristan and the others! Hang tight, We'll be back in a minute!"Clunk, click… rev, crunch, and the red car had pulled off. Marik sighed. This whole duel was getting tiresome, if he was being completely honest with himself. Was it that he'd outdone himself this time? Was this too elaborate, had he cornered himself?

_No.. I mustn't doubt myself. I am right- and the world needs to be brought to justice! Bakura is just a pawn in the game our former Pharaoh calls life- and…he's expendable, right?_

Unconvinced, he took a well-needed deep breath, and continued his attack from Joey.

"Are you lot done yet? May I remind you this duel has just begun and already you've wasted half of your friend's expected life time up there?"

"You'll never win, Marik! I assure you- I will make sure nobody gets hurt, here!" The Pharaoh's aura of confidence, and authority was beginning to annoy Marik and sitting in the position he was, was not helping much either. A rogue point of the rod was sticking into the back of his leg, and almost cut the blood flow off to that calf. He moved slightly to one side, but still it did not help.

"Oh? We'll just see about that, won't we? I believe it was your turn, before all those interruptions!"

"Yes; and I summon gamma the magnet warrior!(1400atk) Now, Gamma! Attack Marik directly!"

_So predictable… you must be losing it, Pharaoh…_

"Sorry; I've been expecting that… I play negate attack! This not only stops your worthless warrior's attack, but it ends your battle phase! So don't even think of trying to attack me with that puny Gazelle of yours, this turn either! Hahahah!" Marik countered, gleefully. Everything was going to plan, still…

"Fine, Marik! I end with a card facedown…"

(Duel overview; Joey- 4000lp, 2 facedowns. Yugi- Gazelle king of mythical beasts(1500atk) Gamma the magnet warrior_, 27_00lpOne facedown. Mokuba- Marauding captain (1200atk) Mataza the zapper (1300atk), spells; banner of courage. 4000lp One facedown. Kaiba- _monsters_; 2 Blue-eyes white dragons(3000atk each) lord of dragons(1200atk) _spell/trap_; _one_ facedown. 4000lp )

Marik grimaced, behind everyone, and tried once again unsuccessfully to get comfortable. He was really beginning to tire of this whole setup, and the rod was causing his leg to go numb. He switched to Mokuba automatically.

"All right. It's my go now, so I draw!" He took the top card off and glanced quickly at it, with bright eyes.

"I play; another Marauding captain, in attack mode! And his special ability allows me to play the second Mataza the zapper that was in my hand!" The two monsters appeared beside the others, their whole appearance a mirror image of the two existing monsters. The whole troop of humanoids standing before him like an iron wall almost seemed to act as a further attempt to hide himself from the world.

"And even though you have the two Blue-eyes, you also have Lord of dragons! And he only has 1200attack points! So go, one of my Matazas and destroy it!" The last figure rose up, and with a heavy hand, brought the small blade he was clutching down over the other's neck. The hologram exploded into tiny multi-coloured particles, and in a rain of rainbow-like squares, he was gone.

"You may have destroyed my lord of dragons, but I just dare you to defeat my dragons!" (A/n; Alliteration! Woo!!) Kaiba threatened, but Marik simply grinned to himself from the corner.

"Ah, but since I have my Banner of courage on the field, you lose 300 life points instead of only 100!" he laughed, still from the younger brother of the CEO.

(Duel overview; Joey- 4000lp, 2 facedowns. Yugi- Gazelle king of mythical beasts(1500atk) Gamma the magnet warrior_, 27_00lpOne facedown. Mokuba- 2 Marauding captains (1200atk each) 2 Mataza the zappers (1300atk each), spells; banner of courage. 4000lp One facedown. Kaiba- _monsters_; 2 Blue-eyes white dragons(3000atk each)_spell/trap_; _one_ facedown. 3700lp )

Finally, as a last resort to make himself comfortable, he stretched both legs out in front of him, and gathered them close to his side. A rush of cool blood ran through one, and he grimaced darkly as the second wave of pins-and-needles struck.

"And now it's my turn, Marik!" our villain looked up sharply, suddenly aware he'd been momentarily distracted once again.

...Something was different. Wrong…?

"And now! Blue-eyes white dragon! Attack his puny captain!" The right-hand dragon released a ball of white light, which collided with it's target harshly and incinerated it.

The blast reflected back, and Marik momentarily retreated to avoid any of the effects of the loss of 1600 life points.

"Now, my other beast! Attack his-!"

"Wait!!" Marik leapt to his feet, almost glad he had been distracted momentarily. Because now that the shocked silence had descended over the duelling field, it was quite possible to hear something else.

A little cough, a desperate breath…

"Bakura!"

"G…guys? W…What's going on?" the faintest of British accent asked. It seemed as if everyone in company were staring upwards at that very moment, up at the still rather limp and unanimated body of the white-haired teen.

"Bakura! Are you okay??" his pale eyes widened innocently as he stared upwards.

"Wh…who's there? Yugi? K..Kaiba? What are you doing?" the faint voice continued, and two hazy chocolate eyes, half-closed against the harsh glare of the sun off of the ocean glanced around quickly.

"It's me! It's Namu, Kura!"

"N…Namu...? K..Kura? who..."

_Just great… it must be the worthless host… If the spirit doesn't show himself and help to regain my cover, then he'll __**really **__be sorry! Come on, where are you?_

He invoked the boundless energies in the rod, and slowly alighted on the white-haired teen's consciousness, which almost recoiled from him, curiously.

As soon as he knew he'd reached the spirit's layer, he materialised, and glanced around. Nothing but plush darkness met his retinas.

"Where are you, you fool? You're going to give me away!"

His own voice echoed back to him in the darkness, and rebounded faintly.

Still, throughout the next few minutes he stood all alone. He was beginning to feel threatened, being just a tiny blip in the great sea of Bakura's mind- it wasactually rather unnerving.

"Bakura!" Marik still wasn't even sure that it wasn't the host he'd be attracting, by being here. Still, at least he'd be able to threaten him then, without the Pharaoh or Kaiba from hearing him.

_Where is he?_ He wondered, wheeling about wildly... staring upwards almost as if he expected the spirit to alight from the heavens on wings made of light, as white as his hair.

"Looking for me?" A low voice snarled unexpectedly in his ear, and our startled villain spun around, right into the mysterious spirit's front. His whole body stayed stiff, and he didn't even flinch in the slightest.

"Get away from me, Bakura! What are you trying to do, give me a heart attack?" Marik responded, jerking away. Two dark hazel eyes observed him quietly, their depths swirling in such fierce mystery.

"What do you want?" snapped the dangerously low British accent Marik knew so well by now. Even as his eyes travelled over the pale face, framed in the iciest mane of whiteness, across the solid body and the slight movement of his breathing, the events of earlier started to filter back to him.

The taste… the humiliation…

Shaking, he backed away slightly, nausea rising from somewhere in the pit of his stomach.

"G…get away from me,"

An impatient sigh- "You were the one yelling for me. Now, if you require nothing of me, get out of my sight already and stop wasting my time!" commanded the spirit of the ring, the same tone drenched in authority that had been used on him by the Pharaoh.

_Nobody tells Marik Ishtar what to do…_

Before he could even catch himself, anger surged hot through his veins, causing him to leap forward, with the rod outstretched before him like a two- pronged claw. The jump only brought the millennium item up to his friend's throat, but it quivered there, it's owner very close to thrusting it further, through the delicate pale flesh.

Still Bakura did not flinch.

"You do NOT tell me what to do, you hear me?" he growled, strangely unable to force his hand further. The rod began to glow warmly, channelling his excess anger.

"I am the one who is in charge here! You can't just do what you like, you hear me?!"

To his extreme displeasure, Bakura only smirked calmly, and shut his eyes.

"Was this about earlier? When you finally understood what victory usually tastes like..?" Still the rod quivered, warm metal pressed against his throat, either side like a collar. Marik shivered instinctively, and jabbed it harder against him.

"Do you not know I could have you put somewhere you'd never get out of?" he whispered, icily.

Bakura laughed a harsh bark.

"Worse than the millennium ring? I'd like to see you try,"

"How about the bottom of the ocean?"

A patient stare reflected back at it's owner from our villain's eyes, glassy with the weight of his over-whelming anger.

"The bottom of the ocean?" the other grinned, disbelieving. The single lone point of an elongated canine showed itself from below his lip, seductively. "I'd love to see you try that one."

"You obviously haven't checked up on your host lately, then…?" there was a demonic smirk, not belonging to the demon this time, and after that, the rod's light consumed them momentarily, bringing them into a vision of the duel field that Marik sat on, outside of Bakura's mind.

........................................................................................................................................................................................................................

When the light had died, they were alone on the dock, the heavy metal anchor hanging lonely in the centre. Bakura blinked and stared around in horror from the anchor.

"What have you done to me, Marik?"

"I'm teaching you your place, you ungrateful fool! Hahah… and now your fate rests on the speed at which I get what I want…!"

The once-confident demon stared at our villain with wide eyes, not even able to struggle at the chains anymore.

"What is it you want, anyway?"

"I want a power, like no other…"

Suddenly, with his mind, Marik managed to sever the rope holding the anchor, and in a dream-like state, it hit the water, and a shower of non-existent droplets showered our confident villain, laughing maniacally in the background.

………………………………....................................................................................................................................................................................................

After everything faded back to the safe blackness of Bakura's mind- still where Marik held the rod against his throat, there was a faint minute of disbelief that ensued.

"You…" stuttered the once-confident demonic teen, staring with shock and slight fear in those chocolate-auburn orbs. A sight that made our villain's heart positively leap in satisfaction.

"Yes… That is what I could do to you, so you had better obey me nor blow my cover here, and stop taking advantage of 'our agreement' for your own enjoyment! _I_ call the shots here, understand?" Our villain threatened, with voice shivering with excitement. It was all coming together… his revenge on Bakura… then… it would be his plan to become Pharaoh…

Suddenly, with a heavy breath, Bakura slowly lowered the rod with one finger.

"You do… do you?" As quick as lightning, his fingers were curled around Marik's throat, and his head bent until their lips slammed together.

Surprised, and unable to pull away, Marik refused to part his lips to the other, but Bakura was almost as obstinate, and seemed not to be looking for anything more. A tiny silky sliver of white fringe fell across Marik's cheek, and it tickled slightly. Oddly enough, the warmth of this gesture, the feeling of being surrounded by this demon's body… it was… it was just right?

After an eternity passed between them, Bakura drew away slowly, tenderly, letting his throat go too and running the back of his fingers, now free, lightly across the curve of our villain's jaw. Marik almost grumbled in objection, although he could barely feel his lips anymore and hadn't forgotten why he'd been so angry. The finger marks in his neck refused to allow him that pleasure.. however it almost seemed that this move… pacified him. For now at least.

"What was that for?" he demanded, dryly, when he was sure he was finished.

The chocolate narrowed into two tiny strips.

"Oh… _that_ was a little reminder for me of what you feel like, just in case you're _not _all in one piece, by the time I'm _finished _with you…"

**A/n: Ah, 'Kura's angry now!! ^__^ Hehehe... **

**...So, what did you think? I wanted to not focus on the duel so much this time, but Ra! Kaiba summoning 2 blue-eyes in one turn? Oohh.. prettyness....3 Lol. Do you think I should do the same in the next chapter, and focus on everything else rather than the duel, or would you rather I write more duelling? XD**

**..Okay. Sorry again about having to wait so long, and sorry for the perhaps poor quality of this update. T___T I tried my best, but this was written super-quick, so it's probably horrible. X___X But I just really want it over with, this duel... **

**Oh, and thanks to all the reviewers! It seems I've been having more and more each chapter, I got 11 or something from the last one. *dances about* I'm so happy ! Thank you!! *huggles all reviewers***

**Nyah... so as soon as the finals start in chapter 16 or so, I'll put up the amount of reviews I'm looking for. :3 For now it remains at six though. :P So feel free to contribute! And part two should be up by next sunday.. I can't work on it until at least tuesday now, you see... ^___^**

**So until next time!**


	16. Chpt 15 My fault

**A/n; Soooooooooooooooo glad X100 that this duel is finally over! x___x But who has prevailed? Marik? Bakura? Or Yugi and Kaiba? Heheh.. you'll have to read to find out. :D Oh, and I began to focus more on Marik, as some of you suggested, and not so much on the duel, so that's why there's no more field updates and things. :O**

**I sure hope I did okay on this chapter. As per usual, I am not very happy with some of it. But however, the rest is fine. What rest? Read it. :P Urgh.. I'm still shaking with the adrenaline that Marik describes, and I'm just the author. RA, I connect with him well. U__U;; Okay. This is the most dramatic chapter ever, so read and enjoy. And since the duel will finish up in this chapter, it means it's definately one chapter left before the finals finally start, and the next one shouldn't take as much time to get finished as the latest ones have. ^O^ *jumps in air* Yaay! Oh, and as soon as school starts again for me in three weeks, I'll get back up to a chapter a week. That's a promise. :D**

**Now, enjoy this chapter! :O It was fun to write, if not exhilerating. ^^;**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh, nor will I ever. Not after this chapter, will I ever have hope of it in the future even if I aquire a fortune, because it's fans will maul me to death. *dies***

Chapter 15- My fault

"Bakura, don't you worry! I promise I won't let anything happen to you!" Marik's voice echoed around the duelling field, as he pretended to hold back imminent dry-sobs.

The small form of the white-haired figure chained to the anchor stared back at him with wide chocolate eyes.

"Namu! Don't worry about me! Nothing will break us apart!" he countered, a single tear rolling silently across his pale cheek.

Needless to say, everyone sweat dropped, including the mind-slaves.

"Of course it won't!" Marik refused to give in, he knew by the act of forcing himself to cry that Bakura was winning their little fake battle to out-act the other.

"Um…" the Pharaoh interjected, attempting to earn back the attention of both the captive teen and our villain in disguise but failing miserably. The tension lingered for another few minutes, until nothing more was uttered, and the chocolate-eyed demon refused to let Marik look away.

"Will you two cut that out?!" Kaiba finally steamed, and both looked up sharply. Marik truthfully, almost didn't care what the others thought since they had no idea it was only some sort of competition, but realised quickly that this was having a serious effect on his dignity- if Bakura wanted to win…that was fine. For now.

"Ah… uh…" Bakura grinned apologetically.

"Just win this duel, you hear me?" Marik demanded dryly, before beginning to think about continuing the duel himself. After all, it had been his turn. Bakura was still in some real danger of drowning, but our villain refused to address it in his mind just yet, pushing it further from his thoughts.

_Perhaps it'll teach him… teach them all! Marik Ishtar answers to nobody! Not some stupid Pharaoh, not some spirit who dwells within a millennium item… not my sister… not anyone!!_

"All right. Shall we continue our duel, now that that touching reunion is over?" Marik suggested, this time through controlling the blonde-haired teen. "Bakura is going to stay up there, unless you manage to beat me, and if you don't hurry up with that, then he'll be going for a little dip!"

"Wait!" The Pharaoh let his arm sporting the dual disc drop to his side, limply. "What happens if I do win? How do we get him down?"Marik almost laughed out loud, and only succeeded in reducing it to a smirk. However he allowed a laugh to escape his mind slave, as he considered. That part of his plan had not been that detailed unfortunately…after all he wasn't planning to lose, was he?

"Oh, that will come in due time. You have to win before I'll release him, so I suggest you concentrate on that first…" he chose to reply, thoughts converging for the first time since he'd put it there about the key he'd given to Joey in case it had been needed.

The same key he'd promised Bakura he'd use if he were in any danger, back when he'd spoken to him within his thoughts.

_That's what he thinks…_

"Okay- Well I think we'll get back to this duel," Marik decided aloud from Joey, and forced him to draw. "I'll restart things by summoning Alligator sword(1500atk) in attack mode! You think just because I haven't played monsters until now that you can still win? Ha! Fool!" Even as he spoke now- the accent was strange… that was the part that our villain could never get used to about controlling another person's actions. When he spoke, the voice was not his. At the moment, it was broad and confident, but not of a false type of confidence either- it was something innate. Something that could not be lost as easily as the control of one's mind. Truthfully- it perplexed him, even now. Was it that Marik was even exercising full control over the stubborn mind slave? It had never happened before that his power had failed- but for some reason, he was still wary of the outgoing teenager, even from his throne within the four walls of his mind.

"Now, Alligator sword! Attack the Pharaoh's puny magnet warrior!" he announced, as the six-foot reptile rose from a flurry of holographic particles, wielding his sharp sword like some sort of club and obeyed, leaping forward with weapon outstretched.

"Joey! I know you're in there! I know you don't really want to attack me!" The king replied, as the two monsters collided in a flurry of smoke.

" I told you, Joey's gone! It's pointless trying to talk to him!" Marik raged, as he felt the slight ripple of acknowledgement cross Joey's mind and was forced to stamp on it before it manifested further.

He'd never had so much trouble controlling someone before!

_You no longer know that liar over there that calls himself your friend! How can he be your friend when he's not even who he says he is, you fool? I shall not lie to you as he has, so listen to me and stop reacting to him before I __**make**__ it so that you can't!_

…_you hear me, Joey Wheeler?_

Again; no answer, for there was none to be given. His own threats echoed back to him, across the empty expanse of the inside of the teen's head, worrying our villain slightly. Was it truly too much to attempt to control Joey?

_No… everyone can be controlled…_

… _can't they?_

The smoke cleared slowly, and as soon as it had parted it's cloudy curtain, it revealed that both the sword-wielding alligator and the pink metal monster had survived.

"What?" Marik couldn't help but exclaim. "What happened? My monster is 100 points stronger than yours!"

"Ah yes, but I happened to have played the swords of revealing light, at the very moment you attacked me! Sorry, Marik! But it'll take more than that to break the friendship Joey and I share!"

Six very large shapes fell from the sky, bright and glowing with the symbol of hope across their surfaces. They were the faint shape of daggers, broad blade flat and pointing downwards while the thin handle protruded from the other side. They stopped falling peculiarly in mid-air halfway to impact, and froze Marik's side of the field in a reflective light shield that held each monster in a time lock.

_Alas, this time the time lock will not last 3000 years as the one he has cursed my family with has, I have but a meagre 3 turns to wait before they are free! And the Pharaoh shall not play with anyone's lifetimes any longer! I'll be sure of that!!_

"You think your feeble attempts at stalling will help you break through to your friend, do you?" he murmured, staring upwards through two golden-hazel eyes at the shining shapes. They were almost identical to the swords that had fell from the sky made of shadow that Bakura had summoned when they had needed to escape from the workers in the van. Except these were made of light, of hope… shining to illuminate facedown monsters, and shed the bright power of righteousness across the field.

However, although it had been impossible to see anything after the swords the spirit of the ring had summoned that extinguished the streetlight, Marik had felt unnaturally safe in the darkness back then.

It was a different type of darkness.

_Being in the blackness of eternity, I used to fear what lurked within it. Within me. But now… although there could be well something there to hurt me, I shall illuminate the world in a deathly glow, obliterate the shadows as well as what dangers lurk within... until all that could seek to hurt me are gone!_

…_It was the Pharaoh's fault. His fault I was left alone and scared in the dark. My whole family was, until I alone have led us back to the daylight. Why should just we exist in never-ending night, with but a tiny sliver of illumination from the moon?_

His gaze fell across the patient glimmer of inky-brown that was the spirit's eyes, framed in pale skin and equally as colourless hair, almost drowned completely by the light of the swords eating into it. He was framed in an unholy glow, as he hung, staring calmly through Marik's soul, which forced our villain to look away nervously after a few seconds.

_Just as the moon acquires it's light from the sun, so must I. In turn, I'll be the one to distribute it across the world, and bring it safely into the next dawn!_

"Marik, you'll never win! I know Joey will free himself before this duel is over!" the Pharaoh interrupted, swirling amethyst burning as bright as the swords hanging overhead. His confidence was unnerving, and our villain frowned from the side, trying to reassure himself.

"Of course he won't. My millennium item is too powerful for a mere mortal to overcome!" he reasoned, angrily.

_There is no way that runt could overpower the strength of the rod! His mind is simply too weak!_

"And… neither is Mokuba's!" he continued unexpectedly.

Suddenly everything became quiet.

"Mokuba?" our villain grinned, from the subject of that sentence. "Why, you know that little child has just as little chance of overcoming the mental bond as Joey is!" he laughed.

"Mokuba may be small, but never underestimate us Kaibas, you hear me, Marik?!" the older brother of the smallest mind-slave suddenly burst out, his anger consuming him at that very moment.

"Yes! That's it, Kaiba! We must find a way of getting through to them!"

Just as the Ceo was about to object, or assume a reply of some sort was in order, there was a sudden sharp groan of the structure around them, as if it had just decided to shirk it's duty of keeping it all upright.

Marik stared upwards around him, in distaste and his pale violet eyes narrowed angrily, causing a whole change of expression.

"Where did that come from?" the ancient king asked, blinking in surprise. A second sickening lurch of splintering wood sounded, and all eyes present finally converged on the same place with horror.

_It can't…be…_

"Um, guys…?" Bakura himself was staring upwards as both he and the anchor dropped jaggedly downwards a few inches, the sweet gentle voice of his host still able to flow from his lips even though our villain could almost feel the malice drip from him at this point. He'd been promised that no harm would come to him.

"It's that beam of wood!" Kaiba confirmed, pointing up at the heaving middle beam, holding up both the anchor, the device that would release the rope after thirty minutes had passed, and essentially, the body of Bakura.

"Bakura!" Marik yelled out of panic, even though he hadn't even meant to. A racing shot of adrenaline hit his brain, as the wood bowed slightly with the weight of the anchor, and for a second Marik lost control of his emotions.

_I… I never foresaw this…!_

"Bakura!!"

"M-Namu!! What's happening…??"

A whole rush of intoxicating fear and worry consumed both our villain and his arch-enemy, as they leapt forward almost in unison.

_I promised him… I promised…_

_The weight was not too much.. I'd already been assured by the hunters…_

_Bakura…_

_I…_

…It wasn't until the feeble voice was loud enough to be heard, that he realised sharply what he'd been doing.

"Y…Yugi…"

A faint spell of silence ensued, filled only by the half-hearted breeze and the lazy lapping of water around the docks. Then, after several seconds had safely disappeared, and still no further complaints from the wood were observed, the attention was focused back onto this weak voice just begging for attention.

"Joey! Joey! Is that you?!!" There was hope in the king's voice, as the horror seeped into our villain's conscious.

He leapt back into the teen's head very quickly, even though in the darkness of Joey's mind, he could still feel the loud echo of his pounding heartbeat.

…_No…! _He gasped, _Never will I surrender control of him…You're supposed have no thoughts, you fool! Why did you regain conscious thought, as soon as I was not here? Why???_ Marik raged, still shaking.

_I…I don't care for you, Bakura! I don't after what you did to me! Why did I suddenly surrender control of myself like a foolish child? I shouldn't care what happens after what you did! The memory's still fresh, you hear me_…?

He shivered at the side of the dock, shivered in disgust when it all flooded back to him. The memory of what had happened back at the warehouse.

The words shone in his mind as white as the spilled semen that had dripped from Marik's chin.

_**You deserve to drown…**_

-But did he really mean that?

"Joey! Is that you?"

_No… I'll contemplate that later…_

"No, you're just imagining things, Pharaoh! What's wrong, the worry about Bakura getting to you?

He could see the king almost lean back and sigh, as if he had predicted that his hope would be punctured like a stretched balloon.

"You can see he's in danger, Marik! Let him go, before that wood snaps! He'll drown if you don't!"

This was it… he tightened his resolve, and gave no attention to the pair of demonic orbs staring at him, lazy auburn waiting for an answer as impatiently as everyone else.

"This is beyond a joke!" Kaiba added, still inspecting the split in the wood.

_No… it's simply payback. _Marik convinced himself.

_..and also bad craftsmanship. I'll have to remind these rare hunters exactly who they're working for, here…_

"Never! The only way you're going to have any hope of saving him, is if you duel me and win! So hurry up, if you want your friend up there to live!"

_The wood should hold, for at least another five or ten minutes…_ he decided desperately, unwilling to admit his concern to even himself. _At least I have the key if it's to be…. NO! What am I saying? As long as I become Pharaoh and lead the world to freedom, that's all that matters! Someone as unpredictable as the spirit of the millennium ring is a perfectly expendable pawn in this dangerous game…_

"Marik you can't! I'm-" protested a little British accent from above, but our villain cut across him before they could find out exactly what he 'was'.

"I can do what I like, you fool! So shut up and let them duel, before I personally cut that rope and ensure that beam comes down!" He snapped in reply, although he would not dare face the spirit directly. He knew he was probably very angry, and that was all he cared to know at this moment. As long as the beam held, that was all that mattered.

"Now, if I recall rightly it was your go, Pharaoh! So make your pathetic move!"

There was a pause.

"Fine, Marik! But first…!" Something began to change. Even as it happened, and our villain felt it, he could not do anything to prevent it. The ancient target of all of his miseries was suddenly gone, faded slowly from the mind of his pathetic host like the darkness clearing the sky at sundown, leaving the little tri-coloured teenager standing before him back in control of his own body.

_...NO!! How can he do this to me??_

"What?? There's got to be a mistake!" he shouted to himself, or at least he meant it to be.

"That's right, Marik! It's me, Yugi! Now let's continue this duel and free our friends once and for all!" The vessel proclaimed, more to Kaiba than to anyone else.

"You hear that?" Marik responded weakly from his own body, directing it up to Bakura. However the spirit was looking further upwards himself at the splintered wood, and ignored him completely like a spoilt child.

_Fine… ignore me, you fool.._

"Now… I draw!" The card slid easily from the disc, and no sooner had Yugi directed it to the field.

"I sacrifice both my gamma the magnet warrior(1400atk) and my Gazelle the mythical beast(1500atk) to summon… The red-eyes black dragon!!"

There was a blinding flask of light, and the two figures of his monsters were consumed. Something was emerging from the pool of brightness, something as black as the shadows Marik was condemned to his whole life.

The long equally rough neck of a serpentine creature reared, and reflected back out of Joey's eyes. Our villain stared up, as he found himself sinking into something soft and moist.

"My… Red-eyes.."

_No, you fool! You ignore that monster immediately! What are you doing to me?_

He struggled to remain upright, in control…

_I am controlling your mind! You have no will of your own!!_

"That's right, Joey! Fight it!" chirped the pharaoh's vessel, happily as he watched his friend's reaction to the monster, his expression a clear void of white light. The creature before him flexed it's wings (and all of it's 2400 atk) threateningly at Marik, as he struggled to force down the rising puddle of his disobedient mind slave's conscience threatening to smother him.

"That's my red-eyes… Yugi… I…"

_No! How can this be??_

Marik glanced upwards without warning, and the sight of a grinning demon met his gaze. It was a mocking expression; one that cried, 'Hark, are you losing your touch?'

_I assure you, Spirit, I am not losing any touch…All people on this earth can be controlled, even you, Bakura! I will not lose control of an insolent mind puppet like this!!_

It was very fortunate, therefore, that nobody save for Bakura was looking when the brightest burst of light Marik had used yet emitted from the millennium rod-… one so bright not even the thick, knotted dark fabric of his trousers would hold it in check. The hot flicker of power ran up his tanned skin, and he shivered involuntarily beneath it's touch. It was- quite like Bakura's could be sometimes, but then again, a disembodied sort of presence, less poisonous than the spirit's could truly ever be.

_YOU OBEY WHEN I COMMAND YOU!!!!_

"No.. please…!" the voice was pleading, but still with that inbuilt courage, ingrained belief in himself. As if he knew still that he could shirk off the netting and escape, unlike Marik had been able to, back in Duke's shop. His image almost had the strength to manifest itself in front of our villain, at that shimmering moment, hot with the condensation of hope. Marik's pale eyes widened at the sight.

_How are you still fighting?? I command you! Surrender to the power of my millennium rod now, you fool!!_

It felt like trying to grasp a pillar of fire, the rod emitted so much excess power but within the teenager's mind, he brandished the burning metal at the place he had tried to appear to our villain.

_YOU ARE NO LONGER, JOEY WHEELER!!_

Finally, with a last grasp at his conscious thought, the true owner of the body was gone. Faded into eternal darkness. Into the grips of the millennium item. Marik didn't care to know where exactly, but out of his way was good enough.

Victorious and crowned with a dirty smirk, he wheeled around to gaze once again out though the blonde's eyes.

"Now… where were we?" A pair of innocent amethyst coloured eyes met his; held his gaze, furious.

"Admit it! You're having trouble controlling him now, now that I reminded him of who he was!" Yugi pointed an accusing finger at him, past Joey right into Marik's face.

"You don't know what you're talking about, fool! So hurry up and finish your move already!"

"What's this? Not as confident?" With a hesitant gaze upwards, the little vessel continued. "Come on, Joey! Look; look into your red-eyes, Your red-eyes black dragon... and remember who you are! Remember how you worked hard to win that card from Rex raptor? All the way back in Duelist's kingdom?"

"Yugi, what are you doing?" Asked a rough voice from the other side, and it came to our villain's attention that a cold pair of un-amused eyes were also fixing him in an unprecedented stare.

"I told you, Kaiba. Did you see the way he stumbled a few minutes ago, almost slipped? We have to get them to break free of this mind- control, as quickly as possible! As soon as the bonds they share with Marik have been severed, he no longer has any power over either of them, which means that Bakura's in no further danger either unless you count that piece of wood!

So I'm going to work on Joey, but you'll have to remind Mokuba of who he is, as soon as it's Marik's next turn!"

"Who… he is?"

"Yes; old stories, memories you guys share together… things only he would know…"

Marik took a quick glance up once again, at the form of Bakura tied to the anchor. He seemed to be engrossed in watching the duel, and was scowling very slightly, so that the light that reflected back from the waves sloshing below threw itself in majestic patterns across his pale skin.

Our villain knew he was not expecting any harm to come to him. That he was sure of. But the question was, could he indeed promise him nothing would happen, when he didn't know for sure if he could deliver?

…His gut was wrapped unhelpfully around itself, twined like a knotted serpent inside him. He hadn't felt like that for years…since the beatings… the harsh punishment of the leather, biting into tender tanned flesh, sometimes drawing blood through abuse…

The bruises that would linger, as he sat waiting in the corner of the room, knowing what was coming…dreading it…but unable to prevent it, the dying candlelight littered with the odd moth that had found itself into the winding prison, setting the stiff mood to break…

...His eyes instinctively filled with tears as the images flashed through his head, images that could have almost manifested into reality, they were so strong. They were tears which he had to wipe away quickly to prevent any more from appearing, with an almost embarrassed scowl.

_I'd… I'd never let anyone get punished like that… Never would the pharaoh allow such cruelty to another human being, if he was doing his job right…_

Realising his hand was shaking, he lowered it to his waist.

_But he isn't doing it right… That's why I have to make sure it's done…_

"Joey! It's me, your buddy Yugi! Joey! You just have to break free of this control! Remember what you said to me, back when this tournament began…? About how we'd stand together against Marik, and not let anything separate us? Remember…?" our villain shot an emotionally furious scowl at him from his own body, even before he could help it.

"Stop it!"

…

"I… remember…"

"That's it, Joey!"

Like a hot grip on wet metal, Marik's was slipping once again…

_Bakura… I… shouldn't have done this… I'm not in control any more…You could really…really…_

_It shouldn't have ever turned out this way…_

"Right! And after, when you got kidnapped by Marik's rare hunters? What you said to me before they wrestled you into the van..?"

"…Never… give… up…"

"That's right!"

_No! What is it, that makes you so powerful? Why can't I control you?_

He threw his whole spiritual weight into the teen, and forced him, shaking by his will, to resist to extract something tiny and silver from his pocket, something which weighed a lot more in symbolic value than he'd ever realise.

"Stop! Stop it! Look here- this is the only key in existence that'll set your friend up there on the anchor free! So quit trying to sabotage my plans, or else I'll toss this into the ocean! Make your choice!!" He bargained, desperately, pushing with all his might.

"The... key! No!!" Cried the real owner of the body, this time refusing to slump into submission once again. He wrestled back, already much physically stronger than Marik was anyways.

"Throw it, you fool!"

"There's a key?" The spirit of the ring stared down, his warm hazel eyes questioningly fierce. He struggled slightly for the first time almost since his awakening, and desperately attempted to free himself. His shoulders heaved. "You throw that away and you'll be very sorry, Marik!"

It seemed through the new threat, that nobody managed to notice that was not the normal tone of their innocent friend Bakura's voice, it was a very low, very threatening snarl, like that of a British wild animal.

"Stop!!"

There was an urgent screech of brakes against the road, and out of the corner of his other mind-slave's eyes, our villain could make out the shivering reflection of a red car in the water. A red topless car, with more than two passengers present who climbed out immediately upon deceleration.

"Yuugi!! Yugi, are you okay..?" the female voice pierced the air, much shriller and harsher on the ears than Joey's blind sister Serenity.

"Tea! Stay back! He's going to throw that key into the ocean if you come any closer!" Yugi countered, without Marik having to make the threat, thankfully.

"Dude! Check Bakura out!"

"Yeah.. If we don't win this duel, or free Joey and Mokuba, within about five minutes then he's going to drop that anchor onto the bottom of the ocean! And that beam's going to snap at any second! If we don't hurry, then it could fall of it's own accord! So we need that key! Please… stay back!" Yugi's shrill voice raised in panic, rang across the docks- some strange note of authority to it, even though the Pharaoh had quite obviously melted into the nonexistent shadows of the back of his host's subconscious and refused to come back to rescue Bakura.

_Coward… You think that abandoning the situation will make it any better? _It seemed Marik's anger had melted into something even fiercer. _I would not abandon Bakura while he's in danger, I plan to do everything in my power now to reverse this situation! That's what being a good ruler's all about! Not running away when the fight gets tough…!_

"We can't just stand by and let you duel when Bakura's in-"

..SNAP.

CRACKLE…

_Crunch._

Splash.

As if in slow motion, before Tea could finish that sentence, the anchor had finally proved too much of a weight on the half-split wood, and in a majestic flurry of splinters which rained down on the water, the anchor was free. It hit the disturbed surface of the waves which leapt free of the constraint of gravity, allowing it safe passage and spewing a breathtaking curtain of surf across all four duellists.

"Maaarik!!!"

"Bakura!!!"

Truthfully, Marik wasn't sure who had cried out. It could have been Yugi, could have been Kaiba… could have been Duke, Serenity, Tristan or Tea. It could have even been himself.

Our villain was frozen as the water obscured him, mind void and empty as he watched the anchor disappear from sight.

A loud outlet of breath from the corner; Joey had finally broken free, as our villain had suddenly come over all weak. Too weak to control anyone. It had barely sunk in. He took three very rapid deep breaths until his head became dizzy. Finally-

"BAkurrraaaaaaaaaa!"

Without a single ounce of thought, and with the hot, searing adrenalin making his body shiver violently as if he'd just vomited, a single motion brought he and the slopping water surface together.

It was as frigid as ice, consuming his warm tanned body, winding around him and pressing into his clothes. The water closed over him like a cage, and he was below, struggling, fighting his way lower, arms pushing violently for passage. His eyes stung violently from the assault of the salty water, but he could not bear to shut them.

_I can't let you down.. I… it's all my fault… Bakura I swear to every great Egyptian deity under the stars I won't let you down.. Just hold your breath… wait for me… and I'll wait for you…_

Heartbeat rang loud in his ears, lungs clawed hungrily for air, but still he struggled on in the wake of bubbles. The only problem was, he knew the anchor was falling much faster than he could swim… It had already almost disappeared from sight into the darkness, eaten alive…

_As long as I have the key… Oh ra, the key!!_

In his rush, he realised it had been left safe in the blonde teen's hand.

How had he forgotten it?

...It was over. Bakrua was gone.

…Even as he turned to glance up at the surface, he knew he'd have to get back there soon or run the risk of drowning too. His vision was becoming blurry.

_I…_

The thin light of the sun glared down in ribbons through the thick water, dancing in dapples across the surface...He wouldn't make it either it seemed. His mind was cloudy from lack of air, his limbs were as heavy as the anchor was, dragging him further down into the abyss without him having to do anything.

Even now, there were figures approaching through the darkness. Figures of the Egyptian gods, reaching out to pull him into the oblivion of eternal rest he rightly deserved.

A steady stream of bubbles issued from his mouth, the final oxygen he expected to have inside his body.

_Bakura. Wait for me… I promise, I'll never leave you… not in the next life, nor in this one.._ his final thoughts he expected to have, either. The figures reached him and grabbed him either side of his jacket, but oddly, they were pulling him upwards, instead of down further into the darkness. It began to become lighter, but still the chill of the water seeped into him, before he could hold his breath any longer and finally, it all went dark.

Somehow, death was not as bad as Marik had first envisioned it to be, he thought as he began to regain consciousness of some sort. Two pale eyes opened hesitantly, and a rush of warmth ran down his body.

..A sharp pain shot through his left thigh, and he suddenly identified it as one of the unhelpful points of the millennium rod, poking into him. His vision was blurry and his eyes fought to focus on something.

_That means I'm lying on my back…_

Nothing but clouds and blue sky met his gaze when he finally could focus, until the small, concerned face of Yugi loomed above him.

"Y…Yugi!!"

It all began to filter back. He realised as the second blonde mop of hair appeared across the blue and white, that Bakura was still down there, surrounded by water and undoubtedly unconscious, lungs filled with water by now. ...While _he_ was alive and conscious, with two full lungs of oxygen.

It made him sick to the stomach. Like he was going to throw up.

"Namu! You're okay! Where's the key? I'll go down and try to find him!" Joey urgently commanded, his rough accent harsh in Marik's sensitive, water-logged ears. 'Him' did not need explaining.

"I.. over there," Our villain pointed, and sure enough the glimmer of silver was just visible across the soaked wood.

Now that the adrenaline was beginning to subside, the chill that becomes of wet clothes, heavy with water was setting in. Not only that, but the deep chill of despair at the knowledge that Bakura had been under the water for at least five minutes now. And the ocean was too deep for a person to scale on a single breath.

Even as the blond dived gracefully, and broke the surface in a splash of surf, Marik knew it was hopeless. Over.

Bakura was gone. And it was his fault.

**A/n: And that's it!!! T^T . ..Ra!! I'm a bad authoress.. That's the worst cliffhanger EVERRR!!! :O I'mma sorry...;___;**

**Want to know what happens? Is this the end of Bakura? T__T Or is there some way out of it for him??**

**..Okay. I need reviews, peoples. Review if you want to know more. If you want Baku back. I seem to have lost four reviewers since last chapter.. and I still need six, but I'm basically looking for more, since I'll be highering it following the next chapter. ^^;... I was shaking when I finished writing that.. do you think it's dramatic enough? ^^ Hahah.. I do.. *dead***

**Until next time! (Don't worry, there is one!:D)**


	17. Chpt 16 The end and the beginning part 1

**A/n; Okay... I so don't deserve this after leaving this ficcie on hiatus for like six months, but I need everyone who's still reading to review this. If I don't get enough, I may decide to just leave this story and not ever come back to it.**

**I know I said I'd never do that first, but this final year in school full of tests is taking most of my time, as well as the stress of not having money for college and trying to improve my art enough to sell so I can raise money in comissions to go. And on top of that I fell in love with 5D's and haven't had any contact with the original series for like five months. U___U; So please review- or if you can't remember what's going on and need time to read over, send me a PM just to let me know you're still here and interested by all means. But I'd prefer if you reviewed, I need to know whether my style of writing has changed at all over the time.**

**This chapter concludes the duel and the mystery of what happened to Bakura, but is only part one as I wanted to get this up as soon as I finished to let you all know I haven't forgotten it. Part two will be... the start of the finals, as well as a nice little fanservice scene of which I will reveal when the time comes...well, whenever I get time to write it. D:**

**So without further ado.. enjoy your continued thiefshipping. ^____^ Seiri is back, and _better than ever_. OTL AT LEAST I HOPE ANYWAYS ;A;**

**Disclaimer; I barely own my health any more lately, let alone Yugioh. *is currently sick for about the seventh time in four months* Also, I disclaim the ability to make the chapter name line stay centred for some reason. D: *kicks Edit system***

Chapter 16- The end and the beginning, part 1

As soon as Joey had disappeared from sight, his shadow soaring into the dark abyss Marik sat up and a wave of water slid down his midriff.

The shiver that ensued had nothing to do with the unpleasant chill that numbed his body, it was something emotionally appealing. Something he'd never ever experienced before.

"Namu! Namu!" People were shouting, and without caring in the slightest what happened to him after, he snatched a glance sideways. The two Kaiba brothers were locked in a tender embrace of sorts, with the older of the two crouched and muttering angry threats to the entity "Marik" who'd done his brother harm, amongst faint words of gratitude for his safe return.

Another shiver overwhelmed our defeated villain, he stared faintly through the two, imagining vainly they were he and Bakura together in that very same embrace. Safe.

_I'm sorry… I just wish that you had of listened to me in the first place… If you had of done that, I would have had no reason to tie you to the anchor in the first place… If I could have you back… just for a little while… I'd…_

"Namu! You okay?" Marik was rudely interrupted, and as soon as he'd turned to meet the owner of the voice, a concerned pair of amethyst eyes grasped his.

"…Y…no…" he responded angrily. "What, you think I'd be fine right after you go and let Bakura drown like that?" Suddenly that trademark anger that confined his soul began to manifest itself again, and before he could stop them, tears of confusion and rage were blurring his vision. "You promised nothing would happen to him!"

"I… I'm sorry… I tried… we all tried… Joey might be able to go and find him…"

"And what are we going to do if he doesn't?" A sharp voice interjected from across the docks. "If I'm not mistaken here, that Bakura kid is more than dead by now. So that's murder, essentially. And we could all be suspects, if we can't prove that this Marik exists. After all… he could be among us now still, if he truly can control minds…!" Kaiba warned. Our villain shivered unhelpfully when his icy cold eyes darted across his momentarily.

"In fact… he could even be one of you!"

There was a pause.

"Why would we attempt to murder one of our friends, Kaiba? Don't you think that's sort of harsh?" Yugi defended, as people began to stir.

"Yeah Kaiba…"

"Don't say it as if he's really gone!" cried a shrill voice behind our villain, and no sooner had he glanced up, when a pair of hands grasped one of his.

"You know that Namu hasn't given up… If anyone can save him, it'll be my brother!" Serenity appeared to be crying also, trapped tears dampening the bottom of the bandage slightly as her voice shook.

"But it's been almost five minutes… nobody can survive that long without…" Tea had appeared to have been trying to administer some sort of sense, facts- but it seemed Marik wasn't the only one who wouldn't acknowledge Bakura's departure from this world.

"No! You'd never say that about Yugi! Or my brother, if he were the one down there on that anchor! So don't say it about Bakura! Come on! He can make it!" She tightened her grip on Marik's hand as she spoke, yet our villain could do nothing to prevent the doubts from overflowing his mind. While he valued her physical abuse of his hand very little, it touched him somewhere deep down that the girl would care that much about trying to keep false hope up.

"You can't say that though…" Marik told her truthfully, his voice dying meekly in his chest. It felt as if a whole packet of cotton wool had been shoved down his throat it was so tight and unco-operative. He'd never expected that to happen, and now that it had… well… it hadn't quite sunk in yet.

"Yes… I can!" She tightened her grip once again, if such a thing was possible, until Marik winced with pain although he knew that wouldn't stop her- being blind and all. "I'm so sure of it.. The second I hear the water breaking again, I'm taking off my bandages! And seeing my big brother as the hero in action that he is!" she recited passionately, other hand rising to the bindings around her face.

"No… Serenity…!" Tea attempted to appear to want to reason with her.

"No ifs!" the girl replied, with a wide grin which lit up her whole face. "Now! Let's cheer for my brother and Bakura! Come on, guys! You can do it!"

Marik sighed weakly. He was still too much in shock to become angered by her stubborn refusal to believe what had happened either. It was sort of endearing… but not enough to compensate his whole world crashing down around him. For this was something the magical energies of the millennium rod could never reverse.

…It wasn't the first time he'd felt such despair though… It had happened a few times before…

_Bakura… it… doesn't feel like you're gone.. I should be the one down there dead for doing this to you…_

_You can't be gone…_

_I… _

_I….still ...need you._

Behind them suddenly came the sound of breaking water, and even before most had looked up, a wave of freezing droplets scattered across the congregation followed by a desperate, wheezy gasp behind them.

"It's Joey…!"

The hand that restricted our villain's disappeared like lightning, and soon a wave of auburn hair fluttered across Marik's cheeks as Serenity got to her feet, the bandage already halfway undone.

"Joey!"

Our villain couldn't even bear to look, to see if indeed Bakura's body had been hauled from the anchor or not. It wasn't worth the bother… he almost knew deep down that there was a slim to none chance he'd be able to be revived from the few minutes without air even _if_ his lifeless body had been salvaged from the anchor.

"Man… I…" coughed the blonde between deep pants somewhere behind them, splashing weakly as Tristan dived in to help him to safety. The same blond who had defeated Marik's mental grip on him a little while ago. Marik was certain now if he were to look back on it, he should be angry… but wherever there should be emotions, he felt curiously empty. Like the seabed drained right before a tidal wave. Like the calm before a storm.

"You okay? You've been gone ages now!" Tristan scolded him as they no doubted-ly reached each other.

"Yeah.. Man that was lucky…"

Marik stared upwards at Serenity, whose newly revealed two deep brown eyes(Just like her brother's) were transfixed on the ocean scene, wet tears pouring down both cheeks. The bandage lay in rings around her neck like a scarf of some description, framing her young face as she held back sobs. Marik could not discern right then whether the sobs were of joy or in despair, though.

"J…Joey!" she called, her shrill voice quivering.

"We need a little help here!" Tristan yelled, and Marik was snapped from his distant thoughts, hopes and dreams by something landing roughly before him with a thump. It was wet… a flood of water pooled around our villain's knees… But what exactly the object was didn't seem to want to sink in through the curtain of emotions cloaking him.

Then… after a few seconds…

"Bakura!!" He yelped. For before him now lay the white-haired teen, his brown eyes shut to the world, and his chest no longer rising and falling with the rhythm of breathing. Almost… the image of when they had first met, curiously.

_Ra… he looks even more beautiful now than back then…_

Our villain had just reached out a hand hesitantly as if his eyes had somehow tricked him into this sight, but was almost knocked to the ground once again by two white heavy coat tails which heralded the arrival of the oldest Kaiba brother to his side.

"Let me in there. Is he dead?" There was the noise of a transmittable radio being activated. "This is Kaiba three.. I need a paramedic team, down on the docks, asap!"

Our villain's hand collided with his arctic-haired friend slowly, and he sat forward slowly until he was almost atop the lifeless teen. Bakura's skin was unnaturally cold, and wet to the touch as a smooth rock in a shallow puddle. However he still only appeared as if he were sleeping, a breathtakingly beautiful expression of peace laid across his features. Peace after the torment of being controlled by a spirit Marik could not quite admit he'd be lost without now.

"Bakura?" Fire had lit deep in our villain's eyes once again.. Hope… The slight hope that perhaps Bakura would live after all… and then that he could forget about this day for the rest of his life…

_Come back to me… you can't leave me here alone… you ungrateful fool… not before you get me what you promised to…_

He was snapped from his thoughts violently as people moved either side of him, people assisting the two still in the water.

"Eh… I dunno.. It was really weird.." Another wave of water gathered across Marik's lower thigh as the blonde-haired teen was pulled gracefully onto the wooden structure once again beside him, sopping. "It was like.. I dunno, like he'd already freed himself from the anchor. I just kept swimming down… and then suddenly he appeared out of the blue, floating up towards me!"

"What? So you didn't even need the key?"

"Naw, man. He was already out of the chains, perhaps he'd managed to jam something into the lock and open it… or something… I dunno…" Marik bowed his head in concentration, leaning down on the lifeless chest. _The paramedics had better arrive soon_, he thought, _because it might already be too late. And you can't leave me, spirit. _

… _You still owe me my duty. So wake up already!_

He considered the conversation going on around him.

"They'd better show up soon…!" Kaiba was grumbling, still leaning over our villain and the lifeless teen vindictively, watching impatiently.

"You've got to do something… now! We can't wait for them!" Tea was shouting, although because of all the commotion, could not get very close to Bakura's body.

Serenity, without looking, Marik was very certain was still crying. She appeared to be a very emotional person anyways.

"Doesn't _anyone_ here know CPR??" Joey demanded angrily, getting to his knees and brandishing an accusing finger at the body.

"Actually… both Seto and I have had training in it," a meek voice answered from the side, and an ashen-faced Mokuba appeared by his brother's side, pushing roughly into the congregation.

"Mokuba, get back!" The CEO exclaimed, as if he were attempting to shield his little brother from the sight of the death before them.

"We're almost as efficient as the paramedics employed at Kaiba corp… right Seto?"

"Mokuba-"

"Well why don't you _do_ something for once??"

Hardly had Joey spoken, when the terrible screech of breaks filled the air and at least six white-coated men were forcing their way through, two of which were sporting a stretcher.

"Is this him? How long has he been out?" The man who appeared to be in charge asked urgently.

"About five minutes," answered Joey immediately, moving dutifully so the other people could haul the drowned boy onto the stretcher.

_That was quick…_

Marik sat up to allow them to take him away, even though his curious blue-violet eyes were shining with tears, and he still longed to cradle the creature again in his arms, helpless.

"Any sign of movement?"

There was a pause, in which the girls sadly shook their heads. Serenity was shaking with suppressed emotional anguish.

"Oh please! You have to be able to save him!" she suddenly burst out. "You have to! If not for us, for Namu over there!"

All the attention was reverted back to our villain within that second, and he felt not only his eyes overflowing with tears, and the hot burn of their salt as they danced fleetingly down his cheeks to his chin, but the embarrassment and self-consciousness of being in such a state.

"I.." he stuttered, not at all like himself when nobody said anything for a few seconds. Those seconds felt like forever.

"I can't promise anything," the man replied grimly when nothing more escaped Marik's lips, and rushed away to the commotion going on at the ambulance, shortly joined by the CAO.

A few more seconds passed. With every beat of his heart, Marik could feel himself get more and more afraid. Afraid that he'd never see the lucid dance of candle light in those deep chocolate eyes, or the lustful gleam of trouble either. That he'd never again run his fingers through the mane of whiter-than-snow hair, watching his tanned fingers buried in it's faint milky warmth, to resurface seconds later, the cool softness caressing his skin.

That he'd never hear that deep British purr ever again.

It couldn't just be over like that.

…Could it?

The rest of the group were just as anxious, although Marik felt right then as if he'd never been so alone… abandoned…

The ring of a cell phone punctured the sickening silence, and as Kaiba stood away momentarily to answer it, something began to take place in his absence.

Through whatever the CEO was explaining loudly to the person on the other end of the phone, Marik could faintly hear their attempts to revive the now dead Bakura in the ambulance.

"Clear!"

The jolt of electricity.

"Clear!"

…Thump.

"Clear!"

Nothing.

Silence still. It was over.

………………………………

* * *

Inside, one of the men was being ordered to tell them the bad news, and another was looking at his watch, to read the exact time he'd died.

"Time of death; Six twenty-four pm," he read off.

The job of explaining was allocated, and the man drifted away to face the group of panic-stricken teenagers.

Another, the one who had been attempting to revive the curious white-haired teenager, had momentarily turned his back bleakly to replace equipment when there was an orange glow enveloping the ambulance.

He'd barely spun around when he saw it was from a gold artefact hung around the dead boy's neck, one which had previously not been there when he'd ripped his shirt off, he was sure of it.

But still… there it was now, resting perfectly across his un-moving ribs and casting a shadow across his dead skin, still faintly glowing.

He frowned, and leaned closer.

_How curious._

It was circular, and had five points, which he could not ever recall seeing any piece of jewellery being like before.

However, after two seconds of staring, he had still not solved the mystery of how the object had arrived there. The body had not moved a muscle, and he was just straightening back up when…

WHAM.

Faster than a fleeting bolt of lightning, a hand collided with his throat out of nowhere it seemed, tightening around it's capture. His windpipe was completely restricted, and as he clawed pathetically at the hand to try to release himself, he realised dimly the supposed dead body was the one choking him.

_Impossible…_

Perhaps he was being deceived by the lack of oxygen, but there were at least three other men standing around, frozen with horror too so it must be true.

Two auburn eyes pierced his very soul, narrowed and fierce, as the dead teenager's grip only tightened. This was the last thing the man in the ambulance saw before he slumped unconscious, no longer able to keep awake beneath the lack of oxygen and shock.

As soon as he became still, Bakura dropped him to the floor.

"That'll teach you to stick needles in me and electrocute me," he announced smugly, although it was directed to nobody in particular. Then he'd just rounded on the three dumbstruck paramedics, when Seto Kaiba reappeared, his look of disgust and disdain melting into a puddle of shock when his cold blue eyes met the spirit's.

"You!" He choked, almost stumbling backwards. Apparently he was the last person Kaiba was expecting to see standing, facing him.

"Why hello there," he snarled, showing a single fang in a demonic grin. "You look like you've seen a… a ghost…"

………………………………

* * *

"So he's really…?"

Joey bowed his head.

"Man, if only I'd been a second earlier!" he grimaced angrily and slammed his fist into the wood.

"But it's not your fault, man!" Tristan tried to console him. "You did all you could to save him!"

"You weren't the one down there, were you? I would have given him my air if I could, but I couldn't! Man, why do I always screw these things up?!" he burst out. Marik could see the blond shiver, suppressing the rage and devastation that his heroic act had not prevailed in the saving of Bakura's life, if nothing else.

Yet curiously _he_ felt nothing.

Nothing.

A part of him had died too it seemed.

"No," sobbed Serenity, surrounded by Tea and Yugi. "No, he just can't be dead!"

Marik glanced quickly sideways at the host of the Pharaoh, and could see crystalline tears of shock welling beneath the amethyst too, trickling silently and steadily down his cheeks. _Shock that anything bad could happen in his perfect world, probably_, he reminded himself distastefully.

He knew the spirit of the great king would be watching too, nearby but unfortunately could not locate him. Instead his eyes focused on Kaiba, standing oddly (for Kaiba that is,) by the side of the ambulance with three other men.

"You…!" he gasped in the distance.

Because of the commotion of the group around him, Marik was certain nobody else had noticed him and his odd behaviour.

"But… how?" he asked, almost as if he was conversing with someone else. It looked bad- or shocking, whatever he'd been told.

Our villain couldn't handle any more bad news, so although he hoped faintly it would be nothing worse than the original situation, he didn't care anymore because chances were there could be nothing worse than Bakura's accidental death.

The CEO staggered back, and Marik could scarcely believe his eyes when another figure leapt out of the back of the ambulance. It was a figure not like the other paramedics at all, someone with a shirt hanging limply around the crooks of their elbows, bent over slightly… with white flowing hair, whipped back in the chilly evening air, someone Marik was willing to believe had cold hazel eyes as icy as the chilly bite of iron, and clothes so wet they were pasted to his skin in a layer.

He stared for a second before the creature rounded, facing the group. His shirt was ripped down the centre which revealed the millennium item dangling around his neck, and the pale skin covering his chest and front contrasted with his surroundings.

_Is that really… but he… _

Marik's eyes were captivated. His gaze stolen. After everything that had happened, the sight before him was not registering whatsoever.

"I'm sorry," The paramedic that had delivered the news repeated. It was all he could say in light of the death.

As our villain watched, the ring began to fade from Bakura's neck. To melt back into the spirit's very heart as the wind clawed fiercely at the pale mane, and he slipped the ripped shirt back up over his shoulders, from where it hung on each elbow as soon as the ring had completely gone.

"………Look!"

A small hand pointed upwards, into the distance behind the bearer of bad news. Mokuba's eyes were locked in wonder as the apparently dead Bakura approached the group, calmly and a hush fell across the sobs and laments when all present looked up. Marik's discovery and vision was no longer secret, it appeared. As well as very much real.

There were all eyes from both sides fixed on him in an instant, even the paramedics by the ambulance and Kaiba, who all had not stopped ogling him since he made his epic comeback to life.

"B…Bakura! You're…!" Yugi yelped, the first of the group to find a voice.

"Yes! Hello guys, I'm sorry I gave you such a scare," he smiled apologetically as he strolled over, sweet British accent masking the entity Marik knew was hiding beneath.

"Bakura! B…but how…?" Joey stuttered, his eyes as well shimmering with tears for a fallen friend …who did not look very fallen at this moment in time.

"I guess all that electricity just… did the job, eh?"

"But you died! You weren't breathing! You-"

"But the important thing is that I am, now, right?"

It had not sunk in.

Marik's whole body screamed for him to leap up and scoop the creature into his arms again, yet part of him still did not enjoy the prospect of such weakness of character. So he sat there still, his faintly soggy trousers sticking unhelpfully to the back and sides of his legs. There was still a small pool of water he was sitting in too, he realised after a second.

The veil of silence and numbness that had pressed in upon him since he'd been pulled from the sea was gone he noticed then, the heavy sloshing of waves, the sobs from the group and the breeze whistling around them was suddenly all real again- as if a light had switched back on in our villain's head.

"Well don't I at least get a hug then…Namu?" offered Bakura rather falsely, grinning sweetly down at Marik with his arms open. Still in some shock, he could not work out if the spirit was still angry under this guise or whether he was just glad to be alive and almost recoiled when he realised it was truly _his fault _for the whole ordeal…

_I didn't do th-… wait… yes… yes I did…_

There was no recollection after, he realised after it was over, of his actually getting to his feet at that moment- he seemed to just have been sitting slumped in a puddle one second, and the next was buried in the other teenager's warm, damp exposed shoulder, stray water trickling down either leg uncomfortably.

"B…Bakura I thought I lost you…" he mumbled faintly, beyond crying by that point. He didn't even know for sure whether he felt upset or happy or worried or plenty of other un-named emotions at that moment in time, all clamouring to be felt at the same time. He could also feel the tears prickling at his eyes, but desperately held them back for now was not the time to show weakness in front of the demon. Two strong arms enveloped his waist, and brought them closer.

His clothes were still soaked, the wet sopping t-shirt ripped from his body sticking to Marik's wet t-shirt and filling with their combined warmth.

"Well, you can't lose me that easily," he concluded cheerily in his unlucky host's voice, but quietly at the same time lest anyone else would hear him.

"But how did you- they said you were already out of the anchor's chains… I thought they'd.. I did bind y- Ouch!"

Two fangs buried themselves in the outside of his ear as Bakura closed his mouth over it. It took a few seconds to register why he did it.

_Oh, that's right… I didn't do all of this. I'm supposed to be Namu…_

He buried his face into the crook of the slightly taller's shoulder.

"I really missed you, snowdrop," he responded weakly, grimacing from the new pain in his ear… Just suddenly thankful he could feel it at all, since this meant that meant Bakura was alive for real- and that thought alone sent an adrenaline shot of stardust and moonbeams of happiness through our villain's veins.

Suddenly…

Everything was as it should be.

He was only faintly self-conscious in front of Yugi and the rest of the group this time as he buried his face and left a sloppy kiss in the bend of Bakura's warm, pale neck. The spirit in return rewarded his affection by running his fingers through the other's hair absent minded-ly before he answered.

"I know, my dear… I know…"

**A/n; Aww, well I hope you enjoyed that! :D (is it still in character? I haven't had any contact with the original characters since the last chapter nearly, and didn't even read over the last ones when I sat down to write this... T^T *dies*) It's a much happeir ending than last chapter though. There is more in part two, by the way I haven't even completely the afforementioned lemon scene I mentioned, estimated to happen in about three chapters or so, I think.. **

**So All I have left to say is review! ^___^ I want to know who doesn't think I suck and stopped following this story ages ago...o3o Because I do suck... I suck for abandoning this story , I suck for abandoning the original Yugioh (And being in love with Jack Atlas T^T) and I suck because I procrastinate against everything.. but I want forgiveness... if you have it in your hearts to do so...? ;A;**


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